Burhan Doğançay

Burhan Doğançay — Biography

Burhan Doğançay was born on 11 September 1929 in Istanbul and spent much of his life moving between Istanbul and New York as a Turkish-American artist. He studied law at Ankara University and later trained in painting at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, going on to work not only as a painter but also as a photographer, sculptor and lithographer.

He earned worldwide recognition through his decades-long "Walls" project, in which he photographed city walls in numerous countries and reworked the images into paintings and collages, a body of work that eventually earned him Turkey's Presidential Grand Award for Culture and Arts.

His best-known painting, Mavi Senfoni (Blue Symphony), was acquired by businessman Murat Ülker, and his works continue to command some of the highest prices at Turkish art auctions. The Doğançay Museum in Istanbul preserves his collection and legacy. He died in Istanbul on 16 January 2013.