THE CONTRIBUTION OF LEOPOLD LEVY ON CONTEMPORARY TURKISH ART PAINTING

Levy, who worked as the head of painting department of fine arts academy until 1949 after arriving in turkey invited by the turkish government in 1936, contributed to establish an engraving workshop in istanbul with the help of his assistant sabri berkel. many extraordinary artists such as neşet günal, fethi karakaş and fethi kayaalp who have been through this workshop, have gained a seat in modern turkish painting. levy also enabled the establishment of a workshop in bursa. he strove for healing and enrichment of painting and sculpture museum in beşiktaş having been opened by the order of atatürk; took the initiative to bring the museum to gain the works belonging to the world-famous painters such as braque, picasso, matisse and dufy. the artist served in the selectivity the state painting and sculpture exhibition, took part in the commission of planning and protection of monuments and statues, and selected the pictures that would take place in the exhibition organized by unesco in paris. he supported the new group exhibitions opened by his students as well. for levy, his student turgut atalay: « no one better than him could come to turkey. his each lecture was a conference ». at the end of world war ii in 1949, while returning to france by giving his resignation, as a master, artist contributed in finding picture languages to many young generation of turkish artists including nuri iyem, avni arbaş, selim turan, tiraje dikmen and nejad devrim whom he had trained. moreover, it can be concluded that he contributed to the modernization process of turkish painting by enabling the development of his students’ artistic side through his conferences, writings, exhibitions and workshop revisions.