Veteran Turkish artist Süleyman Saim Tekcan dies at 86

ISTANBUL

Süleyman Saim Tekcan, the acclaimed Turkish artist and printmaker honored with the 2022 Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Award, has died at the age of 86.

His family announced his death on the artist’s social media account, expressing deep sorrow over the loss of “our beloved father, the great master of Turkish art, Süleyman Saim Tekcan.”

“Devoting his life to art, education and the transmission of cultural heritage to future generations, Tekcan left behind an invaluable legacy through his unique works, the artists he trained and his lasting contributions to Turkish art history,” the family said in a statement.

It added that people who placed human values above transient ones continued to live on through their works, the people they mentored and the lives they touched.

“We bid farewell with love and respect to the great master who devoted his life to serving art and humanity,” the statement said.

Born in Trabzon on Oct. 6, 1940, Tekcan was one of the pioneering figures in Türkiye’s original printmaking tradition. Alongside his artistic career, he was also known for his work as an educator and institution founder.

He graduated from the Department of Art and Crafts at Ankara’s Gazi Education Institute in 1961. He later expanded his artistic education through research into printmaking in Germany, combining his work in painting and engraving with his academic background and making significant contributions to the development of original printmaking in Türkiye.

One of the most enduring achievements of his career was the establishment of the Istanbul Museum of Graphic Arts (IMOGA) in 2004.

Bringing together production, archiving and exhibition facilities for original prints, the museum represented an institutional continuation of the workshop tradition Tekcan had developed over the years.