Sabiha Rüştü Bozcalı

Who was Sabiha Rüştü Bozcalı? (1904 – 1998)

She received her art education first in Munich and Berlin, and later at the School of Fine Arts. She is also known as the first female painter to depict industrial production.

Her illustrations were published in the newspapers of the time. Along with illustrators such as Reşad Sevinçsoy and Nezih İzmiroğulları, she was one of the illustrators for Reşad Ekrem Koçu’s Istanbul Encyclopedia. Bozcalı created a total of 901 illustrations for the 11-volume Istanbul Encyclopedia.
She was the daughter of Handan Hanım, the artistic daughter of Memduh Pasha (known by the pseudonym Faik), who served as Minister of the Interior, and Admiral Rüştü Pasha, the son of Hasan Hüsnü Pasha of Bozcaada, the Minister of the Navy. Bozcalı began her art education at the age of 5, taking lessons from the painter and museum director Ali Sami Boyar. After the age of 15, she continued her education in Berlin at the studio of Lovis Corinth, in Munich at the studio of Karl Kaspar, in Paris at the studio of Paul Signac, and in Rome at the studios of Severini and Massimo Campigli, studying with Giorgio de Chirico. Between 1928 and 1929, she continued her education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul under Namık İsmail. The painter Paul Signac described Bozcalı, known for her landscapes and still lifes, as “talented, possessing the sensitivity required by the art of painting, and completely dedicated to the demanding work of this profession.” On the other hand, although Sabiha Bozcalı painted landscapes and still lifes, she primarily attracted attention with her portraits.

Between 1938 and 1940, she participated in the “Homeland Tours” program organized by the Republican People’s Party and the People’s Houses, and in 1939 she was sent to Zonguldak. Here, he depicted the Kozlu Power Plant, Skip Plant, Karabük Iron and Steel Factory, Elevator (Fig Harvest), Elevator Machine, Semi-Coke Machine, Varagel, Semi-Coke Factory, and Iron and Steel Factory. The aim of this program was to document Türkiye, which was modernizing and forming a new identity, through the work of selected artists.
In 1946, through his work for important institutions, primarily TEKEL and Yapı Kredi Bank, he contributed to the visual narrative language that was undergoing various changes and innovations in the fields of advertising and publishing at that time.

She began working as an illustrator at Milliyet newspaper in 1949, and from 1953 onwards, she also worked as a newspaper illustrator at Yeni Sabah, Hergün, Havadis, Cumhuriyet, and Tercüman newspapers. He died on April 12, 1998, at his home in Istanbul, at the age of 94. He was buried in Yeniköy Cemetery.