culture
Neşet Günal's Studio Legacy Shaped Turkish Figurative Painting Generations
The exhibition at Pera Palace’s Galata Exhibition Hall traces how one artist’s teaching shaped generations of Turkish figurative painters.
How we reported this
Pera Palace Hotel is hosting an exhibition drawn from the Demsa Collection that gathers works by artists who trained under Neşet Günal, presenting the shared discipline that connected their practices rather than any single style.
The teaching years that shaped the show
Neşet Günal began his own studies at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts in 1939 and later mentored students at the same institution between 1964 and 1983. The current display at the Galata Exhibition Hall shows how that period of instruction produced painters who continued to explore figurative approaches long after leaving the studio.
The artists whose paths crossed in the studio
The exhibition brings together works by Neşet Günal himself alongside pieces by Ahmet Umur Deniz, Asım İşler, Artin Demirci, Aydın Ayan, Cansen Ercan, Emel Şahinkaya (Günsür), Cemal Gürsel Soyel, Cihat Aral, Fahri Sümer, Hüsnü Koldaş, İnci Eviner, İrfan Okan, İrfan Önürmen, Kasım Koçak, Kemal İskender, Mahir Güven, Mehmet Güleryüz, Nedret Sekban, Neş’e Erdok, Nevhiz Tanyeli, Resul Aytemür, Sabahattin Tuncer and Serap Murath. These names represent the range of painters whose time in Günal’s studio formed a common foundation even when their later directions diverged.
Practical details for visitors
The show titled “The Master’s Hands: Artists Who Passed Through Neşet Günal’s Studio” runs at the Galata Exhibition Hall inside Pera Palace Hotel from 12 June to 31 July 2026. It is open every day except Monday between 10:00 and 18:00, giving Istanbul residents and visitors a direct view of the transmission of figurative painting practice across several decades.
After the exhibition closes at the end of July, the hotel’s regular cultural programming continues to offer access to the same historic spaces where the works are currently displayed.