Picasso’s work on sale at Ankara art fair

ANKARA

One of the early sketches of Spanish painting master Pablo Picasso is on sale at an art fair in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Exhibited by Istanbul’s Galeri Selvin at the ArtAnkara 7th International Contemporary Art Fair and acclaimed from the first day, Pablo Picasso’s drawing on paper depicting his famous work called “The Young Ladies of Avignon” was put up for sale for 34,000 euros (nearly $40,000).

Selvin Cuhruk Gafuroğlu, owner and curator of Gallery Selvin, said that she participated in the fair with more than 40 works and that Picasso, one of the most important works of her collection, attracted the attention of art enthusiasts from the first day.

“This work of Picasso is thought to be one of the works he did in the 1930s,” Gafuroğlu said.

“Picasso usually made sketches before painting. This painting is also a sketch work done with drawing ink,” she added.

“It is known that he made 900 works about ‘The Young Ladies of Avignon,’” she said. “It is one of the sketches of the artist in which he depicts model girls. I bought this work from an important collector in Istanbul.”

Gafuroğlu, who owns two art galleries in Istanbul’s Nişantaşı and Arnavutköy districts, said that she continued to open exhibitions following all the measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said that after graduating from Ankara University’s Art History Department, she worked for two and a half years in the Fine Arts Department of the National Library and recognized Turkish painting there.

Stating that she opened her art gallery 37 years ago, Gafuroğlu said: “It is not a job to be done without loving your profession. You have to have a lot of money. Sometimes it makes you poor, too. But the excitement is very different and very nice.”

The fair, where painting, sculpture, glass and installation works of 107 galleries and nearly 1,000 artists from six countries are being exhibited, opened its doors to art lovers on March 29.

In addition to galleries, the fair is hosting museums, universities and institutions that provide art education, companies producing artistic materials, solo shows and independent projects.

The late businessman Mehmet Balkan was deemed worthy of this year’s ArtAnkara Institution Honorary Award, while artist Mehmet Güleryüz received the Contribution to Art Award.

Within the scope of the fair, 22 conversations will be held where different approaches, problems and claims from the art world will be discussed until April 3 at Ankara Congresium.