The Istanbul Modern has extended the retrospective Aria of All Colors, featuring the work of Semiha Berksoy, until November 22, 2026, due to significant public interest. As other major exhibitions conclude, visitors seeking a robust selection of oil paintings and portraiture should focus their itinerary on the Berksoy collection in Karaköy, the Osman Hamdi Bey galleries in Tepebaşı, and the refined permanent collection at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Emirgan.
When can visitors see the Semiha Berksoy exhibition?
The exhibition Aria of All Colors, which opened on January 22, will now remain on view until November 22, 2026. Curated by Öykü Özsoy Sağnak, Deniz Pehlivaner, and Yazın Öztürk, the retrospective includes over 200 works by Berksoy, who lived from 1910 to 2004. The display explores her multidisciplinary career across opera, theater, cinema, and literature, featuring early sketches, opera-themed canvases, self-portraits, and works painted on bedsheets. The exhibition also references Istanbul Sokaklarında (1931), the first sound film produced in Turkey. Originally conceived as an expanded version of the Hamburg Hamburger Bahnhof exhibition, the show is now accessible through late autumn. While the Panorama: Dreams and Places exhibition is also currently on the first floor of the same building until October 18, it focuses on lens-based art and contemporary photography rather than traditional oil painting.
What is on display at the Pera Museum?
Following the conclusion of the Halil Paşa exhibition, the Pera Museum continues to host its prominent Orientalist Painting Collection. The museum's Osman Hamdi Bey section remains a primary destination, notably housing his masterpiece The Tortoise Trainer. Because the artist passed away in 1910, the canvas is in the public domain. The accompanying exhibition text provides context on his artistic training in Paris, his efforts as the founder of the Imperial Museum and the Archaeological Museum, and the 1884 regulations on antiquities. Unlike the works of Western contemporaries such as Jean-Léon Gérôme, Osman Hamdi’s approach emphasizes figures in traditional Ottoman attire and objects from the museum's collection. Additionally, the exhibition Intersecting Worlds: Ambassadors and Painters explores portraiture from the 17th to the 19th centuries, contrasting the Western need to document Istanbul with the monumental portraits commissioned by Ottoman envoys in Europe.
What are the permanent painting selections at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum?
The Sakıp Sabancı Museum (SSM) inaugurated a refreshed selection of its painting collection on March 18, 2026, located in Gallery -1. This permanent installation presents a chronological narrative featuring key figures including Şeker Ahmed Paşa, Halil Paşa, Hoca Ali Rıza, İbrahim Çallı, and Fikret Mualla. The exhibition also incorporates items such as postcards from the Seyhun Binzet collection and works on loan from the Feyhaman Duran Culture and Art House. A section titled Beyond the Visible examines conservation techniques and double-sided canvases, such as the female portrait by Hikmet Onat. The museum is closed on Mondays; it is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, with free admission offered every Tuesday.
Notes and Sources
- Extension announcement: 12punto, "Semiha Berksoy exhibition at Istanbul Modern extended until November 22," August 30, 2026.
- Istanbul Modern, "Semiha Berksoy: Aria of All Colors"; featuring over 200 works. September 2, 2026.
- Istanbul Modern, "Panorama: Dreams and Places," February 19–October 18, 2026; contemporary photography and lens-based art.
- Pera Museum, "On the Edge of Water: The Life and Art of Halil Paşa," March 5–August 23, 2026.
- Pera Museum, Osman Hamdi Bey collection exhibition; The Tortoise Trainer included in the collection.
- Pera Museum, "Intersecting Worlds: Ambassadors and Painters"; 17th–19th-century ambassadorial portraits.
- Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Painting Collection renewed selection, March 18, 2026; Gallery -1, permanent.
