THE ULTIMATE JOURNEY_ENGLISH

Nusret Çolpan - Turkey

Nationality

: Turkish.

Whenever I plan to make a painting of a city I visit it in order to have a true picture of the city in my mind. There are many cities that have several paintings and publications and I can make their paintings without visiting them, like the holy city of Jerusalem. With regard to Makkah and Madinah I have visited them for the purpose of Haj and Umrah. When I was asked to make paintings of the three cities by my Saudi brothers, I have benefited a lot from my visits to the holy cities for Haj and Umrah. Speaking about the three paintings, I would like to say that I have given blue and dark blue colors for the sky above Makkah. When I started painting I thought about the Makkah sky and how it looks in the morning and we can see it here through flat designs. But one can see the minarets through a front view. Outside the mosque there are several modern buildings but I did not want to show them in the painting and I covered them with heavy clouds. The Holy Kaaba is the focus of the painting and I drew it in a large form and created a circling pattern with the help of colors in order to denote the circumambulation of the faithful around it and the spread of the Islamic message from this center to the world over. While making the painting of Madinah I thought about its scene at noon. Here the focus is on the Prophet’s grave (peace be upon him). When you observe the painting you can see the grave in a very small form and because of that I have drawn it again in a big form in the upper part of the painting. The mosque here appears with its real dimensions and I have covered the surrounding buildings with clouds in order to project the mosque and highlight its significance. When I started painting Jerusalem I thought about its scenery at night to denote the Prophet’s accession to heaven in the night. In this canvas we see the Al-Aqsa Mosque where I have projected the Dome of the Rock because of its fame and beautiful architectural design. There are stones in the courtyards of the mosque and all its pavements are made of natural stones. I did not show the stones, as I did not want to give such details. Like the last two paintings I covered them with clouds. In order to denote the Prophet’s accession to heaven I have designed the sky with heavy clouds.

Date of Birth

: 1952, Bandirma.

Education

: Graduate of the Yildiz University, Dept. of Architecture, Istanbul.

Artistic Activities

: Colpan has done about 300 works in 32 years which were exhibited in various collections in Turkey and foreign countries.

: • Topkapi Palace • Press Museum. • Ataturk Library.

Exhibitions

• Manco Cultural Center. • Medical Museum. • Various exhibitions in Germany, Japan, Kazahkstan and the USA. • Created tile miniatures for both the French and Russian presidents as gift. • Many of Colpan`s paintings are now located in private collections in New York, Germany, England, Japan and Turkey.

Prizes

: He received many prizes in different occasions.

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