Neşet Günal - Turkish Painting Association - UK- Headquartered in London

Who is Neşet Günal? (Nevşehir 1923- 2002)
Günal was the first child of Rıza Günal and Ayşe Dağarslan in Özyayla Village (formerly known as Kızılcin – Kızılin) in Nevşehir. He completed his primary education in Şereflikoçhisar and his secondary education in Nevşehir. With the scholarship of Nevşehir Municipality, he passed the exams in 1939; He graduated from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, now known as Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, as a student of Leopold Levy, in 1946, with the top honors.

After graduating from the academy, he worked as a decorator at Ankara State Theater for two years.
He was among the Turkish artists participating in the Modern Art exhibition organized by UNESCO in Paris in 1946. In 1948, he received a state scholarship and studied Fresco at the “Ecole Nationale Supérieur des Beaux Arts” in Paris. While continuing his painting studies at the Fernand Léger Workshop; He made study tours in France, Italy, and Spain. Here he learned wall painting and fresco techniques. The artist, who was treated in different hospitals for three years due to his illness, returned to the country in 1954. He became an assistant at Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts. He opened his first personal exhibition in 1955 at the Ankara Helikon Association Gallery, and in 1956 he was commissioned to paint the new parliament building.

He painted 30 m2 of frescoes for Ankara Hacettepe Hospital and 20 m2 of frescoes for Istanbul University Faculty of Science.
He went to Paris again in 1963 with an art scholarship from the French Government. He worked on stained glass and Gobelin pictorial carpet techniques. When he returned, he was appointed as a lecturer at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts. He became Associate Professor in the same year and Professor in 1970. He retired voluntarily in 1983 from the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts, where he served as "Department Head" for five years starting from 1975 and then as dean for two years.
The artist passed away on November 26, 2002, at the age of 79, leaving behind hundreds of figurative works. He has two daughters, Zeynep and Sevi, from his marriage to his wife Ulucay (Olcay) Hanım.
art
The pioneer and most important representative of figurative painting in Turkey; It is remembered as one of the classics of Turkish painting with its complete pattern, composition and expressive power. The aesthetics of form are similar to the cubists and Léger. The theme of his paintings is Anatolian people and difficult living conditions, and in this respect he adopts an understanding of art with social content. The hand and foot motifs, which have become a school since 1958, feature Anatolian people with their clumsy appearance, with their exaggeratedly large eyes questioning life.
If you pay attention, there are figures in the foreground questioning us in every picture. My paintings are a mental event aimed at a specific pictorial purpose. I want my paintings to essentially reflect the life, living environment and psychology of these people, and the images I present to emphasize their pictorial plastic validity. For this reason, the measured exaggerations I make are more effective.

Exhibitions
2008 Pınar Art
2007 Evin Art Gallery
2007 Rezan Has Museum
2005 Arti Auction
2004 Island Antique
2003 Arti Auction
2003 AKM Art Gallery
2002 dem-art Art Gallery
2001 Milli Reasürans Art Gallery
2001 dem-art Art Gallery
2001 Evin Art Gallery
Major Works
Children (1996), Scarecrow (1989), Wall Bottom (1981), Earthman (1974) and Virgos (1984).

Awards
1969 First Prize at the 30th State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition with his painting "Blind Hasan's Son"
1989 Sedat Simavi Foundation Visual Arts Award