AL-Monitor Istanbul: Exploring joy and sorrow in Neş’e Erdok’s paintings

Nes’e Erdok’s first name means "joy," but her paintings tell a different story. One of Turkey’s most important figurative painters, the octogenarian is known for her quiet, sorrowful subjects — people lost in thought, staring past the viewer as if carrying invisible burdens. Her latest exhibition at the Yapı Kredi Bomontiada, running until March 8, brings together her work from the past two years marked by war, migration, post-pandemic economic despair and natural disasters.

"My paintings can be considered a kind of journal," Erdok told culture journalist Kultigin Kagan Akbulut in a rare interview, underlining that her work reflected her life, which was filled with pain and loss, with success coming late. Sure enough, one of her auto-portraits shows her white-haired and wide-eyed, tied down with a scarlet ribbon on one ankle.

“Self-portrait,” oil on canvas, 2020. (Courtesy of Neş’e Erdok)

Erdok, born in 1940 in Istanbul to a family from Skopje, spent much of her childhood moving from city to city due to her father’s military post. Her high school teacher first noticed her talent, encouraging her to pursue painting despite her skeptical parents. She studied at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts under Neset Gunal, whose influence is visible in her commitment to figurative realism. 

But Erdok’s time in Paris from 1967 to 1972 at the height of the student protests was just as formative. “I spent hours at the Louvre, listened to Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre, attended demonstrations,” she recalled. There, she shaped her distinctive approach — realism infused with subtle distortions, her figures’ hands and feet slightly exaggerated, their expressions capturing both resilience and endurance. The mother clutching her child, the woman staring out from a ferry window, the tired figure slumped at a table — they carry on, just as Erdok has.

Date: Until March 8 

Location: Yapı Kredi Bomontiada

Word on the street: Callas’ Piano

Pera Museum Cafe’s art deco charm is further enhanced by a piano that belonged to Maria Callas. (Photo courtesy of Nazlan Ertan)

Turkish cinephiles are swooning over "Maria," the much-hyped biopic now in local theaters. Haluk Bilginer portrays to perfection Izmir-born Aristotle Onassis, the strong-willed shipping tycoon, opposite Angelina Jolie’s fragile, luminous Callas. But the opera legend’s ties to Turkey go beyond cinematic nostalgia — they sit quietly in the heart of Beyoglu.

Tucked inside the Pera Cafe at the Pera Museum rests a piano once gifted to Callas by her father in 1939. When she moved to the US, she left it with her mentor, Elvira de Hidalgo, who later brought it to Turkey while teaching in Ankara. After her death, the piano passed to music devotee Mordo Dinar, whose daughter “sold” it to Pera Museum co-founder Inan Kirac for the modest price of one Bosporus tavern night — raki and fresh bluefish.

Today, the Callas piano sits amid the art deco elegance of Pera Cafe, a favorite haunt of Istanbul’s artists and aesthetes. Known for its high tea and expertly crafted cocktails, the cafe also serves a halloumi salad and spinach ravioli verdi worthy of a diva.

Istanbul diary

Moonlight by Dilsad Akcayoz. (Courtesy of Summart)

• Dilsad Akcayoz’s "Flaw-less" at Summart, open until March 18, redefines the body as a space of identity and transformation. His marble sculptures merge classical and contemporary techniques.
• Bejart Ballet Lausanne’s "Ballet For Life" blends Queen and Mozart’s music with stunning choreography in its Istanbul debut on March 7-8 at Volkswagen Arena. Find tickets and info here.
• Psychiatrist, writer and painter Cem Mumcu explores the tension between suppression and self-expression in "Inhibition/Exhibition," which opens March 1 at Beyoglu Municipality Istiklal Sanat Galerisi.

Sneak Preview: Next week’s edition will feature a curated list of top concerts this spring.