Artist

Hamit Görele

Born in the Görele district of Giresun, Hamit Görele studied at the School of Engineering between 1922-1924 before entering the Academy of Fine Arts. There, he attended the studios of Hikmet Onat and İbrahim Çallı. At the same time, he worked as a painting teacher at the American Girls’ College and the Galatasaray High School. In 1928, he came second in the scholarship examination to study in Europe, and was sent to Paris by the Ministry of Education. He first briefly attended Paul-Albert Laurens’s studio at the Académie Julian, then spent the next four years in the studios of André Lhote and the Académie Moderne. In 1929, he received a commendation from the Ministry of Education for his achievements in Paris. He participated in the group exhibition that opened at the Grand Galerie Moderne on the Boulevard Montparnasse in 1930, where his works titled Odalisque and The Pharaoh's Wife were exhibited alongside those by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Pierre Bonnard, and André Lhote, among others. After graduating in 1933, he returned to Istanbul. He took part in the Galatasaray Exhibitions. In 1934, he became the president of the Association of Independent Painters and Sculptors, and showed his paintings in many of the group’s exhibitions. From 1934 to 1940 he worked as a painting instructor in Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Erzurum, Çankırı, and Sivas. He published numerous articles, reviews, and translations. In 1968 he was selected the Artist of the Year by the Society of Contemporary Turkish Painters. He received the Atatürk Art Award in 1979, and the Achievement Award at the 41st State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition in 1980.