Turkish painters in 500 top artists list

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Painter Ahmet Güneştekin is one of the nine Turkish artists who were included in the top 500 atrists list.

Nine Turkish painters were listed among the top 500 artists this year on the Artprice website, a site dedicated to art movements and the market.

The artists who made the list were Kemal Önsoy, Haluk Akakçe, Mustafa Ata, Ahmet Güneştekin, Bedri Baykam, Zekai Ormancı, Ahmet Oran, Canan Tolon and Bubi, who are widely known in the international art community.

According to the Artprice’s 2010 to 2011 report, in last year’s 500 million euro art market, 3 million euros total were spent on the nine Turkish artists’ works.

The website says the art market is moving eastward because of the economic crisis in the West. China is the most striking country in this region, according to the website. The country has made a leap toward art production and consumption and left the U.S., England and France behind. It increased its market share to 33 percent last year in the global art market.

According to the website’s data, U.S. artist Jeff Koons was the most popular artist last year for his works “Balloon Flower” and “Pink Panther.” Both works sold for 10 million euros each.