H ow about a
Sunday breakfast
a t you r Cafe?
Arjantin Caddesi Budak Sok. No. I Tel: 468 4613
Thursday, August 28, 1997
More Domestic News, p ages A3, A4 & A5
Füreya Koral relaxing at home. (Photo: Ara Güler) The ceramiclst Füreya Koral with some of her works.
Fureya
Koral was a
member of a
gifted and
artistic
family and
was a fine
example of
the Turkish
modern
woman
K oral:
'There [in
a Swiss
workshop]
I took some
clay in my
hands. What
familiarity
there was.
I have been
kneading
clay now for
some 40
years.
I am so
attached
to it...
The
influence
of Anatolia
on KoraTs
ceramic
works shows
in the motifs
and the
deep and
vivid colors
she used
Istanbul - Turkish Daily News
A
pasha’s granddaughter, a member of a family full of distin guished writers and artists, a person bom with a silver spoon in her mouth, as it were. Pedigree, money and a good education.Füreya Koral was bom on Büyükada on June 2, 1910. Her grandfather on her mother’s side was Şakir Paşa, whose brother was the Grand Vezir Cevat Paşa. Both were military men and government officials and also interested in art and historical subjects. The two entered a photo graphic exhibition in Paris where they won a prize and both wrote books.
And it was from the books in Şakir Paşa’s library that Füreya Koral first learned to read. When she was five, she began taking violin lessons and later at the age of nine she played for Atatürk, who it seems was a fairly frequent visi tor.
Her father, Emin Koral, was a classmate of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and a military officer, one of those who supported the latter’s efforts to establish the Turkish Republic. His family, how ever, had thought he was destined for a religious career since he memorized the Kuran. But the lure of the military proved stronger.
Her mother, Hakiye Koral, served as a volun teer nurse in a military hospital during World War I. After the war, she became one of the first women members of the Istanbul municipal Assembly.
Füreya Koral was also the niece of the famed Turkish writer Cevat Şakir who wrote under the name of Halicamassis Balikcisi, and the niece of Fahrelnissa Zeid, a painter and one of the pio neers of contemporary Turkish art. Zeid (1901- 1991) had many exhibitions all over the world and especially in Paris, London and Istanbul. As an artist she seems to have preferred to work in oil on canvas in different styles. Yet another aunt was the block print artist Aliye Berger. In short there were many examples of artists in her fami ly especially amongst the women.
Füreya Koral’s educational qualifications were among the best which a woman could aspire to in the Ottoman Empire of the time. Her elementary education was from private tutors but later she went to Notre Dame de Sion Lycee from which she graduated. She then attended courses at the Darülfünun (today the University of Istanbul) Literature Faculty’s Philosophy Department.
She married and lived in Bursa for a time. In 1935 she founded herself in Ankara and
becausergiz and bass Ayhan Baran. The “Yunus Emre Oratorio” premiered in Ankara in 1946 and received world acclaim the following year when Saygun brought it to Paris. In 1958 an English version was performed in the Hall of the United Nations in New York.
The poetry of Yunus Emre describes life and death, God and destiny, fate, friendship and the struggle against injustice. Saygun was interested in the philosophy of Emre and created a unique work of art by setting the poet’s work to music of his own composition which conveys the mys ticism and spiritual evolution of the poet.
“See what this love has done to me” writes Emre, “Now like the wind I sigh and blow, Now
The mural at Ziraat Bank. Fureya Koral. Ceramic. 80 square meters. 1966.
like the road to dust I go, Now like the raging torrent flow, See what this love has done to me.”
After the Sivrihisar performance, the “Yunus Emre Oratorio” will be performed again on August 26th in the Bilkent Concert Hall in Ankara.
Wednesday August 27 BASSO will be per forming works by Mozart in Bolu and on Wednesday September 1 Paganini and Beethoven in the antique theatre of Ephesus. They will then do two performances in Bodrum Castle, followed by another in the ampitheatre at Marmaris and again at Altmoluk. On September 13 they will be at the Kiiltiir Park in Bursa and on the 20th in Sinop.
The fo rm al side of K o ra l’s life
Fureya Koral went to Paris in 1949 as did so many artists from all over the world after the Second World War. The French capital still held allure for artists and musicians although not nearly as much as it had after the First World War. She studied with the famous French ceram- icist Serre and within two years, she staged her first exhibition. Her first prize, a silver medal, was awarded to her by the 1955 International Ceramic Competition Exhibition in Cannes. She was already in her forties, quite late to start what was to be her lifelong profession. But as often happens maturity tips the scales in a person’s favor.
Since she was able to achieve so much was astonishing as there was not even a kiln in which to fire her work in Istanbul in the early 50’s. She built her own in 1954.
Her next prize was the gold medal in the 1962 International Ceramic Competition in Prague. The following year she received an award from the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. In
'W alking People' Fureya K oral. 37.5cm . Terracotta. 1990.
1967 she won a silver medal in the International Ceramic Competition in Istanbul, where it seems that she spent most of her time. In 1968, there was the Vallauris-Biennale Honorary Certificate; in 1981, the Cultural Ministry’s Award for Success; and five years later the Sedat Simavi Foundation Visual Arts Award.
Fureya K o ra l’s c e ra m ic w orks
Koral was active during most of her later life,
concentrating on statues and objects, and for the first time in Turkey she produced large wall pan els creating them from mini panels. The artist drew on Anatolia for much of her inspiration. Examples of her works are reproduced beautiful ly in a book brought out by Ege Ceramic in
1992, “Füreya, Ateş ve Sir” by Ferit Edgu. Among some of her best known works is “Owls” which she created in 1970. The birds are perched on a log, looking off in various directions and remind one of the famous owls of the goddess Athena, wise but inscrutable.
Anatolia gave birth to many different civiliza tions and cultures and was also the prey of many a conqueror. These influences show in Koral’s series of terracotta pieces “Walking People,” created in 1990. Looking at them, the statuettes found in archaeological digs of prehistoric sites seem the most appropriate comparison. The fig ures which are 37.5 cm are clearly female or amoiphous. Their legs are barely articulated despite the title “Walking People.” Mouths are mere gashes, bodies bent as if in thought or dejection or standing straight. They would bring Picasso to mind if there weren’t such a clearer connection with early Anatolia.
The wall panels are semi-abstract in concept. For example, the one at the Harbiye Ziraat Bank which Koral created in 1966 represents the sea and the animals and plants which live in it. The dolphins gambole the waves and plants and schools of smaller fish.
The panel at the Divan Pastry Shop from 1968 brings to life birds flying amid trees. The colors are blacks and greys on grey but all the forms swirl with great liveliness in the back above where the cakes and cookies are sold. Other examples of her work can be seen at Başak Sigorta and the Manifaturacılar Çarşısı.
One could compare her work with other ceramicists today. Jale Yilmabasar comes to mind first of all, although she is also known for her paintings. She has followed in quite similar steps and seems to have been greatly influenced by Koral and her work. You see the same bird themes, a similar use of motifs from Anatolia, deep, bright colors.
Ceramicist Alev Ebuzziya Seibye who also comes from an aristocratic Turkish family stud ied in Istanbul and then more importantly in Copenhagen before moving to Paris. Her work however shows little influence of Anatolia although the bold use of colors is reminiscent of her Turkish heritage. She has emphasized pure lines for her world-renown bowls. Koral is not particularly known for making bowls and chose a different route to follow but she also used the rich colors of Anatolia in her work.
Koral, who died on Tuesday, was held in high regard by her fellow artists. Photographer Ara Güler who knew her and had opportunities to take her picture described her to the TDN as “an example of the modern Turkish woman. I deeply respected her.”
Ceramicist Jale Ayti Anarat told the TDN, “She was the first Turkish artist to have emotion al ties with ceramics.
It is impossible to not remember the ceramic pieces which she made with such deep emotional feeling. Her artistic work will live with us and we will always remember her with love.” Füreya Koral and her work can surely find no better epi taph.
Kişisel Arşivlerde İstanbul Belleği Taha Toros Arşivi
