Osman Hamdi painting to go on display in NY

ISTANBUL

As part of the 100th-anniversary celebrations of the Turkish Republic, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will organize the 100th Anniversary Gala event on Oct. 25, with an exhibition featuring Turkish painter Osman Hamdi Bey’s painting “Girl Reading the Qur’an” and artwork from Burhan Doğançay’s “Ribbons” series.

While speaking about the gala, creative director Zeynep Oğuz Bilimer explained that with the Centenary Turkish Fund, established in 2019, they aim to exhibit more Turkish works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Bilimer said that the income to be obtained from the gala will be spent to create resources for scientific studies, education and new exhibitions.

Bilimer works for the preparations for the gala with Metropolitan Museum Turkish art curator Deniz Beyazıt and Islamic Arts official curator Navina Haidar.

While many Anatolian works are on display at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, the works of Osman Hamdi Bey and Burhan Doğançay will be shown at the museum for the first time.

Osman Hamdi Bey’s “The Girl Reading the Qur’an,” painted in 1880, was sold to the Islamic Art Museum in Malaysia for 6.3 million pounds (155 million Turkish Liras) at an auction in London in 2019, getting the title of Türkiye’s most
expensive painting.