428

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................ vi
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... vii
ÖZET ................................................................................................................... viii
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1
CHAPTER 1
1. INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK OF VISUAL ARTIST ESTATES ..... 6
1.1. THE ESTATE MANAGEMENT CONCEPT AFTER 1970’s ................... 7
1.2. CURRENT TOPICS AND ARGUMENTS ............................................. 11
1.2.1. Posthumous Artist-Function ..................................................................... 13
1.2.2. Artist Archives in the Digital Age ............................................................ 14
1.2.3. Contemporary Image Sharing Culture ...................................................... 15
CHAPTER 2
2. THE SCOPE AND THE MANAGEMENT OF ARTIST ESTATES ..... 17
2.1. THE SCOPE OF VISUAL ARTIST ESTATES ...................................... 17
2.1.1. Tangible Assets: Artworks ....................................................................... 18
2.1.1.1. Catalogue Raisonné ............................................................................ 20
2.1.2. Tangible Assets: Archives ........................................................................ 22
2.1.3. Tangible Assets: Landed Properties ......................................................... 24
2.1.4. Intangible Assets: Intellectual Property Rights ........................................ 25
2.1.4.1. Moral Rights (Droits moral) ............................................................... 27
2.1.4.2. Economic Rights (Droits patrimoniaux) ............................................ 28
2.1.5. A Brief Review of Inheritance Tax and Tax Optimizations ..................... 32
v
2.2. THE MANAGEMENT OF VISUAL ARTIST ESTATES ...................... 35
2.2.1. Artist’s Will as The Primary Guideline .................................................... 37
2.2.2. Private Administration of Estates ............................................................. 39
2.2.3. Limited Liability Companies .................................................................... 40
2.2.4. Trusts ........................................................................................................ 40
2.2.5. Foundations ............................................................................................... 42
2.2.5.1. Artist Museums ................................................................................... 44
2.2.6. External Representation of the Estates: Commercial Art Galleries .......... 46
2.2.7. Exit Strategies: Institutional Donations .................................................... 47
CHAPTER 3
3. THE CASE OF VISUAL ARTIST ESTATES IN TURKEY .................. 49
3.1. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CONCEPT .................. 49
3.2. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................. 55
3.3. EXAMPLES OF LEGACY STEWARDSHIP ......................................... 64
3.3.1. Estates of Living Artists: Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye and Mehmet Güleryüz 64
3.3.2. Estates of Deceased Artists: Cengiz Çekil ............................................... 69
3.3.3. Catalogue Raisonné: Fikret Muallâ and Semiha Berksoy ........................ 72
3.3.4. Commercial Galleries: Galerist and Galeri Nev ....................................... 76
3.3.5. Artist Archives and Museums: Ara Güler ................................................ 87
3.3.6. Archives and Institutions of Memory: SALT Research ........................... 94
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 100
REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 104
v i
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ACS Artists Collecting Society, UK
ADAGP l’Association pour la Diffusion des Arts Graphiques et
Plastiques, France
AGAVAM Ara Güler Arşiv ve Araştırma Merkezi, Istanbul, Turkey
APT Artist Pension Trust
ARR Artists’ Resale Right (Droit de suite)
ARS Artists Rights Society, NY, USA
ASMN Artist Studio Museum Network
AWFVA Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
CAA College Art Association of America
CAT Capital Acquisition Tax
CALL Creating A Living Legacy Program, Joan Mitchell Foundation
CGT Capital Gains Tax
CR Catalogue Raisonné
DACS Design and Artists Copyright Society, UK
EEA European Economic Area
GESAM Güzel Sanat Eseri Sahipleri Meslek Birliği
GRI Getty Research Institute, USA
ICRA International Catalogue Raisonné Association
IMEC Institut Mémoires de l’édition contemporaine, France
INHA Institut national d’histoire de l’art, France
IP Intellectual Property
IRS Inland Revenue Service, USA
IVARO Irish Visual Arts Rights Organization
RRRT Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust
VAGA Visual Artists and Galleries Association, NY, USA
WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization
vi i
ABSTRACT

The aim of this thesis is to explore the scope of visual artist estates and the
impact of their management on the art historical writing. Fundamentally, it
examines the theory that the artists’ legacies are effectively comprehended
when their work is contextualized, that they contribute to the cultural heritage
of their origin in proportion to the work that goes into planning and
safeguarding their estates. Emphasizing the artists’ intentions and requests as
key factors in this venture, the research evaluates related practices in the West
after the post-war period in comparison to those observed in Turkey after the
1980’s.
The research focusing on the actual practices in Turkey has mainly been
conducted by means of interviews with key players, given the fact that the
subject points out to an uncharted territory of literature in Turkey. Based on
these interviews, it has been established that the artists, their heirs and the
commercial galleries assuming representational roles often operate in a marketdriven
field, meaning little consideration is given to the structuring of estates
and keeping in line with the legislation of the Law on Intellectual and Artistic
Works in Turkey. Conversely, it has been ascertained that parties prioritizing
the advocacy of estate assets have not only engendered more viable legacies,
which are secured from being disintegrated and, by extension, being
misconstrued as art historical materials, but have also yielded new perspectives
on the artists.
Keywords: Visual Artist Estates, Artistic Legacy, Catalogue Raisonné, Artist
Archives, Catalogue Raisonné, Artist Foundations
vi ii
ÖZET

Görsel sanatçı miraslarının kapsamı ve söz konusu mirasların yönetilme
biçimlerinin sanat tarihi yazımı üzerindeki etkisi, bu tez araştırmasının
konusunu oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma, en temelinde, sanatçıların şahsi
miraslarının ancak bir bağlama yerleştirildiği durumda etkin şekilde
anlaşılabileceği ve parçası oldukları kültürel mirasa katkılarının, bu mirasın
yapılandırılması ve korunması için verilen uğraş oranında mümkün olabileceği
savını araştırmaktadır. Sanatçıların kendi niyet ve isteklerini ana kriter olarak
öne süren bu araştırma, Batı’da savaş sonrası süreçte gelişen ilgili pratikler ile
Türkiye’de 1980 sonrası ortaya çıkan uygulamaları değerlendirmektedir.
Araştırmanın Türkiye’deki güncel pratiklere odaklanan bölümü, konunun
Türkiye coğrafyasında henüz bakir bir alana işaret etmesi nedeniyle, ağırlıklı
olarak sanat alanından kilit isimlerle yapılan sözlü görüşmelerle yürütülmüştür.
Bu görüşmeler neticesinde sanatçıların, varislerinin ya da sanatçıların temsilini
üstlenen ticari galerilerin çalışmalarını çoğunlukla piyasa güdümlü bir alan
içinde sürdürdükleri; sanatçı miraslarını yapılandırmaya ve Türkiye’de mevcut
Fikir ve Sanat Eserleri Hukuku’nu takip etmeye yönelik bir anlayışın tam
anlamıyla yerleşmediği tespit edilmiştir. Buna karşılık, sanatçıların miraslarına
ait ögelerin savunulmasına öncelik veren tarafların, bütünlüğü bozulmayacak
veya hatalı okumalara zemin hazırlamayacak şekilde koruma altına alınan,
böylelikle daha yaşatılabilir miraslar ortaya koymakla kalmayıp, sanatçılara
dair yeni bakış açılarının geliştirilmesine de katkıda bulundukları anlaşılmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Görsel Sanatçı Mirasları, Sanatsal Miras, Sanatçı Arşivleri,
Catalogue Raisonné, Sanatçı Vakıfları
1
INTRODUCTION
In an interview published on artnet, Dr. Loretta Würtenberger says that “there
are so many people who have a problem thinking about their own death,
especially artists, who have a right to a certain belief in immortality through
their work.”1 Indeed over the course of their lives, artists laboriously create a
body of work whose materiality eventually transcends their own mortality.
When properly preserved, the works win appreciation, inspire and even instruct
many generations after the passing of their authors. The title of a panel for the
inaugural conference of the Institute for Artists’ Estates2 held in September
2016, “All fathers die, not these!” perfectly epitomizes the perpetual position
the artists attain by means of their creations.
Alongside this romanticized idea of artist’s immortality, there is the conception
of Nachleben introduced by Aby Warburg3, which essentially refers to the
survival of images and their diffusion across different cultures in history; the
way images continue to exert their power on successive generations
independently of their authors (Didi-Huberman, 2003). Having acknowledged
Warburg’s concept, which does not take “afterlife” as a mundane biological
metaphor, the term in its most literal sense constitutes one of the departure
points of this research aiming to investigate the guidelines and impact of estate
planning, and the current conjuncture of estate management in Turkey. It
examines the theory that the artists’ oeuvre not only survives but is understood
in proportion to the extent of work that goes into planning its afterlife.
1 Retrieved September 12, 2020, from https://news.artnet.com/art-world/new-berlin-institute-
2 Institute for Artists’ Estates is a professional consultancy and management organization
founded in 2016 by Dr. Loretta Würtenberger and Daniel Tümpel in Berlin, with a central
motive to increase academic activity around the subject of artists’ estates. For more
information: http://www.artists-estates.com/en/
3 German art historian and anthropologist Warburg (1866-1929 is praised for the widening of
the field of art history to include all types of artifacts and the transformation of the preexisting
study of styles and schools into a transculturally oriented historical discipline. Source:
https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199920105/obo-
9780199920105-0087.xml
2
This notion immediately evokes the Latin saying Memento mori4 , which
translates as “remember you must die”; a phrase that bears upon the living
artists, considering it is this very recognition of mortality that ignites the
planning for the posthumous phase. A critical aspect of this phase dwells on the
subject of artists’ intentions and wishes, whether they are respected and
implemented by the custodians of their estate after their demise.
As such, this thesis aims to underline the significance of the visual artist estates
with respect to their contribution to the writing of art history (Corris, 2017;
Reed, 2017). More specifically, it intends to map out the landscape in Turkey
by identifying the stakeholders, key players, modalities, methods, and obstacles
surrounding the management of visual artist estates and the preservation of
their artistic heritage; focusing on the relevant practices after the 1980’s in
conjunction with the emergence of an operational art market.
The research is structured into three chapters: “International Framework of
Visual Artist Estates” being the first one, introduces the historical background
of the stewardship of visual artists’ legacies and explains the shift in related
management practices with respect to the global art market after the 1970’s.
The chapter then elucidates the current debates surrounding the issue of estates.
It looks into the “Posthumous Artist Function” concept, as unknown artworks
often emerge, affecting the art historical interpretations. Subsequent to this
part, the positive and adverse effects of the digital age and image sharing
culture on protecting artistic legacy are summarized.5
4 Memento mori is a notion also rooted in the visual arts, notably peaking in the 16th and 17th
century Northern European painting and engraving. It is usually symbolized through the genre
of Vanitas, which iconographically employs the still life painting with an added figure of skull
in order to emphasize the definite end of worldly pleasures and riches. Source accessed on
October 20, 2020: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/memento-mori
5 The concept of NFTs, which came to light during the writing of this thesis, is intentionally
left out of the research given limited data.
3
The second chapter, “The Scope and The Management of Visual Artist
Estates” is composed of two subchapters: the first part examines the scope
while the second one explores the management of estates. The first section
initially delves into the categories of assets that constitute the scope of a visual
artist’s estate, namely the artworks, archives and immovable properties
grouped under “tangible properties.” A second group of “intangible properties”
follow these, which imply the intellectual property rights, examined under
“moral rights” and “economic rights.” Although not assets per se, the liabilities
of visual artists are included hereunder as integral parts of an estate to
emphasize their influence on the choosing of future administration format,
hence its “afterlife”.
The second section, “The Management of Visual Artist Estates” begins by
exploring the critical topic of “Artist’s Will” as the primary source outlining an
estate. The notion presents a crucial yet complex case as it encapsulates the
wishes and intentions of the artist, a major determinant for the content and
model of the estate’s management. The legal forms the estate management can
evolve into, such as foundations, trusts and, limited companies; the options of
transferring its assets partially or entirely by means of commercial
representation and/or institutional donations are also explored in this chapter.
The analysis of these entities through international examples holds essential
information due to their intermediary position between the estate and the
public, highlighting their roles in the promotion and emplacement of the artistic
inheritance within the context of cultural heritage.
The third chapter, titled “The Case of Visual Artist Estates in Turkey” is
patterned after the framework anatomized in previous chapters. It explores the
visual artists’ estates in Turkey by presenting cases of both deceased and living
artists, commercial art galleries, museums and archives; surveying how their
assets and projects are organized; what administrative models are employed to
tackle their challenges; how institutional agencies manage and safeguard the
4
estates; and what prospects the living artists consider for their respective
estates and legacies.
In conclusion, an analysis of the common practices and issues concerning the
visual artist estates in Turkey will be presented along with a set of suggestions
to produce a guideline for current and future stakeholders.
The methodology of this research is based on a general qualitative inquiry for
the collection and analysis of data, since factors surrounding artists and art
institutions yield distinct experiences in each case, which cannot be reduced to
numerical values. The most comprehensive source in print was “The Artist’s
Estate: A Handbook for Artists, Executors, and Heirs” by Loretta
Würtenberger (2016), which provided an essential guideline to identify the
main questions regarding the estate concept: “What is an artist’s estate, in legal
and common sense? What are the stages of estate work? In what forms, and by
who are the estates of visual artists administered? What are the ways of
keeping an artist’s work alive and who are the key actors or stakeholders of this
legacy work?” Considering these questions, the methods used in the first two
chapters consisted of a literature and press review to understand the norms and
practices used in the West.
The literature review concerning the third chapter, which focused on Turkey,
however, showed evidence that little to no comprehensive academic or market
research has been made on the visual artist estates nationally. However, several
dissertations look into the evolution of the art market (Üstünipek, 1998; Uğuz,
2006; Saçlı, 2016; Rastgeldi, 2019) Given the scarcity of related research in the
context of estate management in Turkey, the method used in the third chapter
relied heavily on the information derived from online sources and 9 in-depth
interviews conducted with living artists, the heirs of deceased artists, owners
and managers of commercial galleries, lawyers, as well as the managers of
5
foundations, museums, and archives that bear material, legal and moral custody
of visual artist estates.
To examine the subject in-depth, the following were enquired: What are the
legislative and common practices under the Turkish law regarding visual arts
and are they coherent with the international norms? How has the artistic
environment evolved in terms of the preservation of artist estates and legacies?
How do the key players approach the exercise of producing a Catalogue
Raisonné, or setting up a foundation, and/or a museum in Turkey? Are those in
the artistic field handle and utilize the assets for public input and benefit?
Which factors facilitate or complicate the evaluation of visual artists’ estates in
Turkey and their inclusion in the art historical narrative? Subsequently, the
models of artistic legacy stewardship are examined through the cases of
different stakeholders, who were interviewed and addressed questions that
sought to reveal their perspective and experience regarding the “estate” concept
and to what extent the “legacy” notion is taken into consideration in their
projects and operations.
Almost6 all interviews were conducted via Zoom due to public health measures
during Covid-19 pandemic, which was the main obstruction in the research
process. These interviews lasted an average of one and a half hours depending
on the interviewee’s availability and expertise.
The main concern of this thesis was to map out the conjuncture and criteria of
visual artist estate management in Turkey and to identify the types of keyparticipants
whose praxis affects the outcome of art historical narrative.
Ultimately, I am hoping to form a basis for further research that will generate a
progression towards the preservation and promotion of artists’ heritage in
Turkey.
6 It was possible to conduct a face-to-face interview with Eda Çekil before the lockdown was
announced.
6
CHAPTER 1
1. INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK OF ARTISTS’ ESTATES AND
LEGACY MANAGEMENT
Honoring and sustaining the legacies of artists is not a recent endeavor, but one
that directly coincides with the emergence of the “artist” identity in the
Renaissance, during which Giorgio Vasari delivered his magnum opus, Vite.7
In this trailblazing work, Vasari not only presents a critical history of Italian art
through the biographical details of artists but emphasizes the importance of
claiming their creative heritage, as cited in Caroline A. Jones’ article8 in Art
Journal:
“If princes realized the importance of appreciating the value of men of genius
on account of the fame, which they may leave behind, neither they nor their
ministers would be so indifferent.” (Jones, 2017, p.148)
This propensity to record and introduce the artists’ to a broader public gained
importance during the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, as attested by the
early examples of monographic compilations known as Catalogues Raisonnés
written by marchant-merciers, art dealers, and artists on their own right. The
initial example of this publication genre written on the Rembrandt etchings by
Edmé-François Gersaint in 1751 remarkably underlines the subject of
authenticity by providing both a catalog of works and an account on the artist’s
imitators; whereas Johann David Passavant’s nineteenth-century treatise on
Raphael, written in 1839 addresses the “inner aspirations and outside
influences” of the artist (Bulckens, 2015). Both authors’ perspectives may thus
be considered quite forward-thinking, revealing an affinity with the concerns of
our times.
7 Giorgio Vasari, Le Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori (Florence: Lorenzo
Torrentino, 1550
8 Jones, C.A. (2017). The Artist-Function and Posthumous Art History. Art Journal, 76 (1), p.
148
7
At the turn of the century, art dealers and galleries in Paris began appearing as
institutions that promote the artists to a broader public. The dealers of the
period, like Durand Ruel, Goupil, Vollard, Kahnweiler and Fénéon, as Ali
Artun points out, “prioritized building careers for artists and undertook writing
the history of individual creativity of those who caught on the zeitgesist”
(Artun, 2003, p.8). These galleries9 managed by the likes of such figures
assumed the task of compiling the works of the artists they represented in
monographs, as observed in Galerie Bernheim-Jeune’s example whose mission
was carried into the second half of the century by other modern establishments
like the Galerie Maeght.
1.1. THE ESTATE MANAGEMENT CONCEPT AFTER 1970’s
Despite this long-standing tradition of chronicling the artistic production for
the sake of the artist’s legacy, there has been a seismic shift within the art
world in the second half of the twentieth century in tandem with the market
growth of Postwar generation artists, which necessitated a further
professionalized, multidisciplinary and comprehensive approach in the
management of artists’ legacies and their estates. Certain incidents unfolding
from the 1970’s onwards may be considered as harbingers of change in this
direction.
The lawsuit regarding the monetization of abstract expressionist painter Mark
Rothko’s estate appears as an initiatory case signaling the need for statutory
improvements in the estate management (Dobrzynski, 1998). The liquidation
of his artworks after his death in 1970 by the appointed executors of his
foundation based on unfair appraisals in favor of Marlborough Gallery and
9 For a detailed account on commercial gallery activities in Europe during the 19th century
please see: https://www.fokum-jams.org/index.php/jams/article/view/18/66
8
against the wishes of the artist himself has revealed the potential threats on
estates. As Henry Lydiate (2014) noted10:
“The most important and healthy impact of the case is that it exposed the
sophisticated machinations of the art market, underlining the need for all artists
to seek and take independent professional legal advice when entering into any
arrangements, be they testamentary, contractual, or otherwise.”
The legal and financial strife that followed Pablo Picasso’s death in 1973 to
settle the distribution of his estate among his heirs – notwithstanding the fact
he managed to keep his works together, thus his currency undiluted as
described by John Berger11 – is another touchstone in the history of art
(Bayley, 2016; Delistraty, 2018).
Throughout the years, numerous other problems have surfaced, regarding the
authenticity issues for which Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali estates are
exemplary; issues that challenged the wills of artists such as Robert Indiana,
who is suspected of having been manipulated and mislead in his bedridden
years (Grant, 2018).
The challenges of artists’ estates can be further represented by the issues of
claiming inheritance while honoring the wishes of the artist as encountered by
Donald Judd’s heirs; financial causes célèbres like Robert Rauschenberg’s
work Canyon, which was prohibited from selling but was subjected to taxes
nonetheless (Lydiate, 2016); as well as the posthumous and coincidental
discovery of the photographer Vivian Maier’s artistic estate; among other cases
that obliged the art world to address the critical subject of estate building.
10 Lydiate, H. (2014). Artists’ Estate Management. Retrieved September 12, 2020, from
https://www.artquest.org.uk/artlaw-article/artists-estate-management/
11 Originally written in 1965: Berger, J. (1993). The success and failure of Picasso. New York,
NY: Vintage International.
9
Directly tied with such incidents in the expanding art market, questions
regarding the artist estates have begun appearing in several publications from
the 1970’s onwards, particularly in two British magazines: a column titled
“Artlaw” in the Art Monthly magazine written by Henry Lydiate since the
outset of the magazine in 1976 has been a pioneer in that respect; giving insight
to various topics of relevance such as art law, authentication, artwork
liabilities, authorship and attribution, moral and economic rights as well as
estate management. Additionally, a special issue of Art Journal magazine
published in 1994 under the title of “Art and Old Age” edited by Robert
Berlind has “signaled the impending impact of an aging baby-boom
generation” of artists (Middleman&Monnahan, 2017).
In the United States, “A Visual Artist’s Guide to Estate Planning” has been
published in 1998 based on the conference that took place on April 4-5, 1997,
co-sponsored by The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation and The Judith
Rothschild Foundation. As explained by the Artists Advisory Committee in the
foreword of the book (which was expanded in 2008), the conference was
organized “to discuss the particular problems faced by visual artists in planning
their estates.”12 The participation of accountants, archivists, attorneys, curators,
dealers, writers, and representatives from foundations, government, museums,
and other nonprofit organizations in addition to the artists themselves further
indicated the exigency of an interdisciplinary approach to the subject.
In the United Kingdom, the Royal Academy has published a book titled “The
Artist’s Legacy” in 2013. The following year, Design and Artists Copyright
Society (DACS) was established as an independent charitable organization
dedicated to the safeguarding of the UK’s cultural heritage whose project,
Art360 Foundation aimed to present “unseen aspects of the UK’s heritage”
12 https://www.hoffmanlawfirm.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/1300376/2020/03/A-Visual-
Artists-Guide-to-Estate-Planning-The-Marie-Walsh-Sharpe-Art-Foundation.pdf Accessed on
July 4, 2020.
1 0
through the legacy planning of artists and archiving their works.13 In the very
same vein, the College of Art Association (CAA) annual conference in 2015,
“Posthumous Author-Function: Artists’ Estates and the Writing of Art
History”14 made a detailed case of the impact of posthumous discoveries,
emphasizing the potential of estates in construing and conveying a more
informative and unbiased account of artists.
“Keeping the Legacy Alive” conference held in Berlin on September 14-15,
2016, has been perhaps the most amplified attempt in Europe to bring these
subjects into question. The conference organized for the inauguration of the
Institute for Artists’ Estates15 was accompanied by a publication titled “Artist
Estate: A Handbook for Artists, Executors, and Heirs”, authored by Dr. Loretta
Würtenberger and Karl Von Trott. During the conference, new perspectives
and notions were introduced, such as the “cultural ventriloquism’ by John C.
Welchman, whereby he referred to the foundation’s function to speak on behalf
of the artist it represents; the question of “posthumous casting” by
Würtenberger with respect to the artist’s wishes regarding the production of his
works, as well as a myriad of topics that included authenticity, archives and,
Catalogues raisonnés.
It’s useful to note that in the last decennia, major commercial art galleries such
as Zwirner, Gagosian, Paul Kasmin, Ropac, and Hauser&Wirth gravitated to
signing artists’ estates, owing to both the art historical cachet they represent
and the consequent rise in their estate value. As a matter of fact, Hauser&Wirth
had almost evened up the ratio of deceased artists to living ones represented in
their roster, with their inclusions (Hanson, 2017).
13 https://www.art360foundation.org.uk/about-3 / Accessed on September 7, 2020
14 It is important to note that the estate of the Turkish-German artist, Bilge Friedlaender was
also represented in the conference.
15 In 2017, 2018, and 2019, the Institute has organized several workshops: “Building Artists’
Legacies” in London; “Artist’s Legacy Planning” in Berlin and “Artists’ Legacies: Planning
Immortality” in Los Angeles, respectively.
1 1
As these examples demonstrate, the inquiries and assessments surrounding the
management of artists’ estates have expanded significantly in the West since
the 2000’s, owing to the demographical shift where particular generation of
renowned artists are passing away, leaving behind a significant amount of
material to be managed (Middleman&Efimova, 2017). As per the concurrent
advancements in technologies, artist estates and art professionals now faced
with novel theories and issues.
1.2. CURRENT TOPICS AND ARGUMENTS
The preliminary topic to be addressed in the field of estate management is the
ambiguity in the definition of the term “artist’s estate”, which ideally implies a
broader legal scope than its common use among the actors in the artistic field,
which merely refers to the artworks and other certain tangible properties.
(Drosdick, 2018; Middleman & Monnahan, 2017; Rolin, 2017).
As a rule, the estate is the pre-transfer status of the artist’s property, including
all tangible and intangible assets. If their ownership is transferred, they are no
longer the estate per se but pass as inheritance or bequests. Suitably, in the
Anglo-Saxon16 jurisdiction, the estate refers precisely to the interim period
between the artist’s death and the transfer of assets. Here, the beneficiaries
assume the legal “owner” position upon completing tax-related procedures on
behalf of the estate. In contrast, in the continental European jurisdiction
where17 the notion of “universal succession” is prevalent, the estate with all its
assets and liabilities is considered as already transferred to heirs upon death.
Given that there is no interim period in this legal system, the term becomes
legally obsolete, assigning the inheritance to the beneficiaries’ legal self.
16 The United Kingdom and the United States of America
17 e.g. Germany, France, Italy, Spain
1 2
Indeed, depending on the country’s legislation, the heirs or beneficiaries may
directly continue the legal person of the deceased, in the sense that rights and
obligations are transmitted ipso facto to them, without having to express any
will (Rolin, 2017). That being the case, the term “estate” indicates not only the
artist’s individual pursuit but also an inheritance that requires to be maintained
and to be sustained.
It is worth mentioning here that the legislations do not differentiate between the
types of assets or the persons and only address this restructuring of the estate.
However, there is an extra element of legacy in question for visual artists,
which sets the whole postmortem procedure apart from any other natural
person.
It seems equally important to underline the fact that, within the increasingly
bourgeoning global art market, visual artist estates are inevitably understood as
“brands” 18 now, driven by what philosopher Gilles Lipovetsky calls an
“Aesthetic Capitalism” (De Oliveira, 2020). This position is evident in the
dealings of artist estates where the act of selling rather than donating is favored
(Reed 2017), suggesting a notion of prestige.
As endangering as it may be to speculate the artistic legacies and assets qua
brands in terms of economy, the concept of a brand is quite illustrative for an
estate’s intrinsic value, which may indeed undermine the reputations of artists
if not duly handled.
To put it another way, the estates possess not only the artworks that stipulate a
cognitive connection but also the related materials that are required to fully
comprehend the corpus of work; a material which in turn consolidates their
context. How the artists’ estates and their components are managed; whether
18 Daniel Grant mentions that increasingly more artists apply for a trademark to maintain
commercial control over their works. See: https://life.spectator.co.uk/articles/the-art-of-thedeal-
why-more-artists-are-getting-trademarks/
1 3
these materials are made available for scholarly and artistic research or
restricted thereof, translates directly into their own legacy as well as the
discourse of art history.
Thereby, the estates might be considered as first-degree custodians and
contributors of the cultural patrimony, and the extent of their sophistication is
indicative of the value attributed to the collective heritage (Laws, 2018).
1.2.1. Posthumous Artist-Function
Regarding the aforementioned role the estates play in shaping the art historical
discourse, it seems fitting to annotate the “Posthumous artist-function” concept
framed by art historian Caroline A. Jones.19 The source of the compound word
is French philosopher Michel Foucault, who has theorized the “authorfunction”
back in 1969 to describe the circumstance in which “the work writes
the author” (Jones, 2017, p.144). Jones readapts the concept to describe “the
process initiated by the artist’s death that drives the materialization of work
through new revelations, reinterpretations or fabrications” (Middleman&
Monnahan, 2017).
According to Jones, the corpus of the artist keeps functioning and expanding
with each new material provided. In other words, when new pieces and
documents privately kept from the public are posthumously united with known
works, they yield different versions of the artist; thus a stratification of
narrative occurs. An important topic here, as Jones points out, is the art
historian’s relentless desire to produce a coherent yet non-existing work of an
existing author-name, which dominates the course of art historical
interpretations, broadening the corpus of artists in an infinite dialogue.
19 Caroline A. Jones is an American art historian, author and critic. She continues to work for
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
1 4
Another important evaluation of Jones within this framework highlights the
biased and hierarchical narrative of art history that traditionally favors Western
art; and particularly the signed European paintings on account of their
extensively studied corpus, hence the “greased machinery of author-names and
artist-functions, together with the high financial stakes they secure.”20 This
thought perfectly underlines the theory that an artist is included in the art
history properly, if and when her/his estate, including the artworks, archives,
and all related material, are preserved and made available for research, hence
the direct correlation between estate management and art historical narrative.
1.2.2. Artist Archives in the Digital Age
The second argument concerns our transition to the digital age, which had both
a constructive and adverse impact on the management of estate assets,
particularly the archives. As repositories of information and raw materials
necessary for the previously mentioned art historical revisions, the archives
face certain practical challenges today due to the “deluge of born-digital
documents” such as e-mails, e-documents about the production and sales of
works, digital files, records, and notes (Reed, 2017; Gill, 2016).
A complex aspect of the archive work concerns the documentation of postmedium
artworks, namely ephemeral installations and performative works
produced in the post-modern era. Gill (2016) underlines the significance of
these audiovisual records by stating them as “surrogates for or extant remnants
of” intangible works. The function of archives in the digital age is therefore not
limited to the conservation; they encompass the information enabling the future
treatment and re-activation of artworks produced today (Wharton et al., 2016).
20 In her 2017 article, “The Artist-Function and Posthumous Art History”, Jones explains that
the teaching and tenure of art history is also prone to a hierarchy in the visual arts, a condition
widely evidenced in the art market where European paintings are well represented in
comparison to other nationalities (see: https://www.artmarket.com), revealing a contrast with
the aforementioned Warburgian arguments.
1 5
1.2.3. Contemporary Image Sharing Culture
With the international art fairs, biennials, and artistic residencies, there is a
continuous global activity that propels the galleries to move away from their
bricks-and-mortar setting and gravitate towards online platforms where a wider
audience can be reached. Through these platforms, artists and their works can
be placed within an international arts ecosystem free from the spatial and
budgetary constraints (Laws, 2018; Jeffreys, 2015).
Individual websites and social media accounts of artists may be good tools for
mass communicating and documenting the artist’s oeuvre in this respect. Yet
the dissemination of information and material presents certain issues: as Grant
(2017) notes, “posting within the social media environment likely implies that
its owner is licensing it for some form of distribution by other site users,”
which may ultimately lead to the infringement of artist’s copyright. Registering
the images and embedding the copyright notice may prevent copyright
infringement. However, proving the authenticity of an artwork or protecting it
from forgeries proves to be a chronic problem in the art market. In this respect,
the Blockchain21 is promoted as a technology against counterfeit.22
On a more conceptual and relevant note regarding social media, Gawronski
(2017) mentions that a greater risk of sharing artworks on platforms like
Instagram is that they may be perceived as “branded merchandise or fleeting
ahistorical entertainment.” Preventing this misconstruction from happening and
21 https://www.artbasel.com/news/blockchain-artworld-cryptocurrency-cryptokitties
22 There is even a bio-engineered DNA called “i2M” for artworks. According to the producer
firm of i2M technology, Tagsmart, “A DNA tag is a discreet and highly secure label that can
be applied to an artwork. It is made up of archival materials developed in collaboration with
artists, surface chemists and conservators (…) linked via a unique ID to a Certificate of
Authenticity and a digital provenance record”. For further information:
https://www.tagsmart.com
1 6
liberating the legacies of artists from “the hands of posthumous personality
cults”23 is primarily up to the principles set during the building of estates.
23 Bayley mentions that in the absence of an ethical approach, the historical facts are bent by
editing or worse, destroyed. Accessed on September 12, 2020, from
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/estate-agent
1 7
CHAPTER 2
2. THE SCOPE AND THE MANAGEMENT OF ARTIST ESTATES
Configuring an estate is pertinent for safeguarding and promoting an artistic
legacy, whereas this configuration can also affect the quality of work produced
(Kaplan, 2016). Moreover, such enterprise ensures an accurate setting for
scholarly research and art history writing by ruling out any factual errors
regarding the lives and the oeuvre of artists whilst endorsing their own myths.
In fact, as Henry Lydiate puts it, “the estate planning can often be viewed as an
artist’s last and potentially enduring creative act” (Laws, 2018).
2.1. THE SCOPE OF VISUAL ARTIST ESTATES
A visual artist’s estate may be anatomized in two main categories, namely the
tangible and intangible assets. Additionally there are tax liabilities and
optimization models that have a direct influence on the afterlife of the estate,
which will be explored at the end of this section.
The category of tangible assets embodies the “artistic estate” which consists of
artworks and all complementary material for the practice of an artist, such as
the archive, tools, and technical equipment. This category is commonly
mistaken for the estate itself due to its cultural significance. However, it is a
part of the material properties, which may also include other collections,
personal ephemera, bank accounts, and cash.
Establishing a structure that distinguishes between these assets facilitates the
task of safeguarding the estate and allows creating substantial funds for future
enterprises like foundations, as seen in the case of the artist and cultural icon
1 8
Andy Warhol, who had an acute sensibility towards the notions of death and
money, and famously once said “Death can really make you look like a star.”24
Notwithstanding the potential of personal items, it is the artworks, archives,
and spaces inhabited by artists that encapsulate the artists’ essence and
contextualize them within the framework of cultural heritage, as examined
below.
2.1.1. Tangible Assets: Artworks
Artworks compose the chief element of a visual artist’s estate. By and large,
they are the primary sources when construing an artist’s identity within the art
historical narrative.
Often an estate happens to be “bereft of good material” due to the success
garnered in the artist’s lifetime (Glaedell, 2009). However, what is left may not
necessarily be “leftovers” as the art advisor Wendy Cromwell points out
(Hanson, 2017). In fact, Mira Friedlaender25 mentions that her mother, artist
Bilge Friedlaender had destroyed her canvases in the late 1970s when “she
decided she was no longer a painter” and tore more pieces down when moving
the remaining belongings in the storage space. According to Mira Friedlaender,
these remnants were the ones the late artist valued (Middleman & Friedlaender,
2017).
24 A ten-day-long sale by Sotheby’s took place between April 23 – May 3, 1988 (Rosen, 1988;
Reif, 1998) where an enormous number of personal items from the Warhol Estate, including
furniture, tableware and accessories were auctioned; making it possible to achieve considerable
funds for his foundation with as little liquidation of his works as possible. The auction was
notably presented with a catalogue in six volumes, necessitating an editorial work tantamount
to the estate planning itself.
25 Mira Friedlaender has initiated a performance work titled “Half of What’s There” in Recess,
New York between September 2 – October 25, 2014; involving the process of unpacking and
displaying the works of Bilge Friedlaender which were kept in storage, to bring about an
excavation as an artwork itself.
1 9
Conversely, an estate may be “art rich and cash poor”, meaning a substantial
amount of artworks are in possession, possibly because the artist has avoided
selling, donating or exhibiting them in order to create a “pension fund”
(Lydiate, 2014). A striking example in this regard is the artist Paul Klee, who
had categorized his works by marking some with “SKL” (Sonderklasse) and
had managed to secure a financial source for his estate.
That being said, ascertaining which piece is an artwork or which not, is
technically and ethically a complex procedure for not everything an artist
makes with artistic expression can be considered an intended artwork. Since
the artist’s intentions are paramount, those who are responsible for an estate
should know or at least be able to determine which pieces are deemed as
artwork; what is a finished or unfinished work; what is allowed or denied to
leave the sphere of artist’s premises for loans and exhibitions and under which
conditions; what works are for sale, and if there are any restrictions as to
whom; how the works are to be installed; if posthumous editing is desired for
the sculptures and prints, and to which degree.
The failure to act in accordance with such intentions of an artist, exhibiting an
incomplete work or one that is deliberately omitted by its author, would
potentially lead to the misinterpretation of the artist (Wharton et al., 2016).
Moreover, wrongfully identifying items as artworks may lead to begetting
illusionary yet valorized commodities within the art market, which in turn is
potentially damaging to the artist’s reputation as well as to the economy.
It is therefore in the best interest of artists to address these issues while alive
and to keep a detailed inventory26 as part of the studio practice without strictly
26 Ideally this inventory includes all relevant information known to the artist, such as works
given away as gifts, whether any copyright has been assigned to these works and if they have
been endowed with the work or not. It is important to specify such information along with the
artwork’s market value at the time of bequest because they may be of relevance in the longer
run with respect to Economic Rights explained in section 2.2.2. of this thesis.
2 0
relying on the predictions of other decision-makers such as the galleries that
represent the artist or the future administrators of the estate (Grant, 2018;
Lydiate, 2014; Würtenberger, 2016).
This inventory is cardinal for the well functioning of the estate and may be kept
safe owing to modern software programs such as Artsystems27, artPlus28 and
Artworkarchive29. Through such elaborative systems, it is possible to assign an
inventory number to each artwork while individually registering their material
descriptions in the program, along with their photographic documentation and
condition reports; technical sheets and instructions controlling their display;
respective collection information, any pertaining documents like invoices,
insurances, texts and exhibition and/or literature history.
2.1.1.1. Catalogue Raisonné
According to the definition by François Duret-Robert in his “Droit du Marché
de l'art”30, Catalogue Raisonnés are publications, which “list, describe, situate
in time, classify and, if possible, reproduce, all known works of the artists in
question.” It seems conceivable to suggest that the CR traditionally functioned
as a tool against counterfeit because they legitimize the artworks with their
reproductions and detailed information.
While the content and the function of CR was presumably introduced in 1751
by Edmé-François Gersaint, it is the Austrian scholar and printmaker Johann
27 Accessed on October 30, 2020. https://www.artsystems.com/product/art-gallery-softwareart-
collection-management-software/
28 Accessed on October 30, 2020. https://www.zetcom.com/en/artplus_en/
29 Accessed on October 30, 2020. https://www.artworkarchive.com/artists
30 https://www.librairiedalloz.fr/livre/9782247179336-droit-du-marche-de-l-art-edition-2020-
2021-francois-duret-robert/
2 1
Adam Bernhard Ritter von Bartsch who appears to have coined the term in
1798 for his study on the works of Lucas De Leyde31.
Like their precursors, CRs today cover the questions of provenance, ownership,
exhibition and publication history of artworks. As per their title, “reasoned
register”, they contain critical texts written by scholars and experts dedicated to
placing the oeuvre in the art history, who should remain immune to any interest
for the art market. In the past, CRs were written singlehandedly by authors,
whereas now the range and sheer volume of material evident in the
contemporary practice often necessitate meticulous teamwork as well as a
considerable budget and timetable.32
A CR implies a certain responsibility of its author(s) since it acts as a reference
of authenticity: the appraisal of works as “authentic” or “doubtful” creates or
detracts value. Considering their responsibility towards the integrity of work,
as well as their control over the information and copyrights required for the
reproductions, the estates appear as ideal conductors of these publications.
There are also the instances of artists who are led by the contemporary art
market dynamics to compile their own CR, “transforming what was originally
an art historical task into a work of art,” 33 concurrently revealing their
perspectives towards their own work.
31 “Catalogue Raisonné De Toutes Les Estampes Qui Forment l’Oeuvre De Lucas De Leyde –
Par Adam Bartsch, Garde De La Bibliothèque Imp. Et Roy. Et Membre De L’Académie I. Et R.
Des Beaux-Arts De Vienne”, Chez J.V. Degen Libraire. De l’Imprimerie d’Albertie, 1798,
Vienne. The work is currently in the collection of Royal Academy in England. It is notable
how the author has specified his appellation in the title of his treatise on Lucas de Leyde, aka
Lucas van Leyden. For detailed information: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/artartists/
book/catalogue-raisonne-de-toutes-les-estampes-qui-forment-loeuvre-de-lucas-de
32 Würtenberger notes that Robert Motherwell’s CR took seven researchers and ten years to
compile, while the Ernst Wilhelm Nay Foundation allocated a budget up to 700,000 Euros for
the CR. (Würtenberger, 2016, p.112)
33 From Annette Tietenberg’s 2015 conference paper, “Das Werkverzeichnis als
werkkonstituierender Faktor in der Kunst seit 1960”, as cited in Würtenberger, 2016, p.113-
115.
2 2
However, the diversity of their personal and sometimes eccentric approach,
exemplified by Gerhard Richter, who does not give an inventory number to any
work he produced, even exhibited and sold but later deemed unworthy34, points
out to potential complications to be tackled by the future estate managers
and/or archivists.
2.1.2. Tangible Assets: Archives
While the CR secures our knowledge on the artworks, keeping a legacy alive
demands an on-going dialogue with the artist and the works that issue from that
very individual. This dialogue can be cultivated through the systematic analysis
of an archive where the raw material necessary for the writing of art history is
present.
An artist’s archive is the point of departure for scholarly research, which
sequentially draws the attention of curators and collections. In other words, it
provides a basis for procuring a joint effort among what Würtenberger (2016)
calls the “three pillars“, – the university, the museum, and the market – whose
collaboration is essential to uphold the artists’ legacies for the future.
In this ensemble, the archival material – sketches, writings, photographs, press
clippings as well as invoices and other documents – play a serious part in
grounding the oeuvre and helping to trace the complex transactions concealed
at the backstory of artworks (Rodney, 2007; Vaknin et al., 2013) but it is the
items of sentimental value – like letters, diaries, and photographs – that “pulls
everything together to complete the narrative” (Cox, 2008).
34 Würtenberger, 2016, p.116
2 3
Artist and archivist Meagan Connolly35 brings up the necessity of these
narratives in order to construe an authentic account of the artists:
“With each painting or photograph on a wall, there exists the complex stages it
took to exist in that moment in that particular space. The archive of an artist
holds evidence of every stage a work of art went through.” (Connolly, n.d.)
Indeed by virtue of the materials possessed, the archive comes forth as a
repository for the artist’s know-how and the progression of ideas, a manual for
the appropriate “afterlife” interpretation and installation of the artworks
(Oliveira, 2020).
Enabling and commissioning research on this material is thus essential for the
accurate writing of art history since the matter of provenance relies heavily on
this very archival support and vice versa: if the archival records are falsified,
the authenticity of the work may come under question. Likewise, restricting or
banning access to the archives is detrimental for an artist’s estate, resulting in
its impoverishment through negligence and its eventual exclusion from the
collective memory. The case of the Barragán Foundation36 is a very telling one
in this regard and “bespeaks the power of well-funded estates to control the
discourse” (Middleman&Monnahan, 2017).
The boom in digital documents and the obscure division between personal and
professional items can prove a conundrum, thus demanding a professional
approach and substantial knowledge on the artist to mediate and pin down the
interconnectivity of materials (Gill, 2016). Likewise, the significance of certain
35 Connolly, M. (n.d.). Archiving Artists. Retrieved September 12, 2020, from
http://www.meagancon.com/archiving-artists
36 Having acquired the Mexican architect’s archive and intellectual property as an engagement
present in lieu of a ring, Federica Zanco has founded and privately owned the (Swiss) Barragan
Foundation. Zanco’s insistence on keeping the archive sealed off from the public in a bunker at
Vitra headquarters for 20 years on the grounds that she would produce a CR of the architect.
Although Barragan is not a visual artist, the discussion around his estate has been a subject to
the multimedia installation work “The Proposal” by the artist Jill Magid.
http://www.jillmagid.com/exhibitions/the-proposal-2
2 4
materials is not immediately apparent, and they are at the peril of being
discarded at the death of artists.
Therefore an in situ examination of the archive with the artist present appears
to be the least faltering approach to assess their significance. It is by extension
a shared judgment among the experts (Reed, 2017; Vaknin et al., 2013) that an
archive should be kept as intact as possible since all components, regardless of
their function, are integral to understanding the artist’s process of conception
and production.
It must be noted that, unlike the artworks, the archive is a component of the
estate that keeps developing in the post-mortem term as a result of the
continued activity, such as exhibitions, symposiums, and publications; meaning
establishing a clear taxonomy for its contents is all the more crucial.
2.1.3. Tangible Assets: Landed Properties
Among the tangible properties of an estate are the immovable assets, namely
the landed properties where the artist has lived and/or worked. The landed
property is often considered a part of the archive, since the atmosphere and the
configuration of these spaces are as telling as the movable materials the artist
leaves behind (Little, 2016).
Suitably, French philosopher Jacques Derrida argues that the word archive,
derived from the Greek word arkhé meaning commencement, finds its other
meaning in arkheion, that is “initially a house, a domicile, an address, the
residence of the superior magistrates, the archons, those who commanded.”37
37 From the English translation of “Dem Archiv verschrieben. Eine Freudsche Impression
(1997) by Jacques Derrida and Eric Prenowitz: “Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression”, in
Diacritics, 55 Summer 1995. Accessed on October 26, 2020.
http://artsites.ucsc.edu/sdaniel/230/derrida_archivefever.pdf
2 5
Certain estates like that of artist Claude Monet38 or Louise Bourgeois39 possess,
or are able to buy later the landed properties where the artists have lived and/or
worked, and preserve these spaces that offer an opportunity to comprehend
their modus operandi.
2.1.4. Intangible Assets: Intellectual Property Rights
Intangible assets are the legal rights that are designed to protect the intellectual
property40, such as trademarks, patents, and copyrights. A trademark is geared
toward protecting the identifying tokens of a visual artist, like a logo, a slogan,
or a pseudonym, whereas a patent is a time-limited property right relating to an
invention, like Yves Klein’s “IKB”41.
The copyright42 involves the authorship of the artists. It is defined as: “a bundle
of intangible property rights, which include the right to control reproduction,
distribution, public performance and display, and to prepare derivative works
based on the work.”43 In principle, they belong to the artists for as long as they
are alive, whether the works are sold or unsold, unless there are agreements on
the contrary and last up to 70 years after their demise.44 It is critical to note that
the property of a physical work and its copyright are two distinct assets, and
38 Monet’s House in Giverny, that draws approximately half a million visitors every year,
demonstrates the cultural and economic potential of landed properties https://fondationmonet.
com/fondation/
39 A non-profit organization, the Easton Foundation, which was set up in the 1980s by the artist
herself owns the studio/house and organizes public visits. For more information:
http://www.theeastonfoundation.org
40 World Intellectual Property Organization, https://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/
41 IKB is the abbreviation for “International Klein Blue” which was developed by the French
artist Yves Klein in collaboration with a paint supplier named Edouard Adam. The artist
developed a method whereby he suspended the intensity of ultramarine color by using a
synthetic resin binder called Rhodopas M.
42 Known as Droit d’auteur in the French jurisdiction, the copyright is regulated by
organizations such as Le Conseil supérieur de la propriété littéraire et artistique (CSPLA) and
l’Institut National de la Propriété Intellectuelle (INPI).
43 https://www.pittsburghartscouncil.org/storage/documents/visual_artists_estate_plan.pdf
44 In Mexico copyright lasts 100 years whereas in China, Japan and Canada a visual artist’s
work is protected for 50 years (Würtenberger, 20016)
2 6
one does not necessarily transfer with the other in the case of an acquisition or
inheritance; therefore may belong to different parties.
The regulation of copyright generates debates since it occasionally presents an
obstacle to cultural production. On that note, the “Code of Best Practices in
Fair Use for the Visual Arts” (2015) effectuated by the College Art Association
(CAA)45 argues that seeking permission to use copyrighted materials routinely
to eliminate legal liability is constraining and even deterrent for artists, scholars
and art institutions, especially in a digital age.
The code indicates that, so long as the analytical, pedagogical, and artistic
objectives can be justified, the use of copyrighted materials should be subject
to certain exceptions to encourage future creativity; stressing that such use
contributes to the very protection of materials against decay. It is highly
pertinent that it refers to the right-holders like museums as “memory
institutions”, morally ascribing them the responsibility of disseminating their
material for creativity’s sake. It concludes that where it applies, fair use is a
right and not a mere privilege.
There are estates fully embracing the ideal outlined in the code, like the Robert
Rauschenberg Foundation, which decided to provide high-resolution images
and waive copyright fees for most noncommercial purposes. According to the
foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, Christy McLear46:
“Professors were making choices of images and teaching based on what images
are available. That affects our history. What you teach should be the best pieces,
not the free pieces.” (McLear, 2020)
45 The code has been based on the data collected from 100 interviews conducted in USA with
nearly 12,000 CAA members, in order to identify the criteria for fair use. For further
information: https://www.collegeart.org/pdf/fair-use/best-practices-fair-use-visual-arts.pdf
46 “Why the Rauschenberg Foundation’s easing of copyright restrictions is good for art and
journalism”. Source: Los Angeles Times, accessed on October 5, 2020:
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-robert-rauschenbergfoundation-
copyright-20160304-column.html
2 7
Notwithstanding the code’s framework of goodwill, the abatement of potential
revenues47 arising from copyright holdings is a question of circumstance;
meaning the fair use clause “can undermine one of the few, albeit minimal,
income streams available to financially stressed heirs and executors trying to
do right by an undervalued estate” (Middleman&Monnahan, 2017). It may also
be assumed that through such regulations, the estates not only yield revenue
but stay informed of sales and related projects; seizing a chance to supervise
those projects’ quality and to contribute when necessary.
It should be noted that the intellectual property rights not only cover the works
materially produced but extend to those intended by the artists who could not
see their completion yet managed to leave directions for their production.
These posthumous works, just as their materialized counterparts, embody their
intellectual property rights.
2.1.4.1. Moral Rights (Droits moraux)
According to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic
Works (1971),48 moral rights refer to the indefinite authority49 of the author, or
their successors to object any unauthorized disclosure, distortion, mutilation or
other modification of, or other derogatory action concerning the said work and
to claim the mention of the name while protecting it from misattributions.
Under U.S. Copyright Law’s Copyright Act, the right to reproduce work in
copies and the right to prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work
47 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ annual licensing revenue of $19 millions puts
the monetary significance of copyright into some perspective (Davis, 2017).
48 Paris act of July 24, 1971 https://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/; which was amended
on September 28, 1979 https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/text/283693
49 Renaissance man, Leon Battista Alberti presents an interesting case in this context: he had
ensured that his works are considered as “coherent, bounded entities to be protected from
alterations by subsequent builders, objects that would continue to produce the fame of their
author, after death and against time” (Jones, 2017, p.142)
2 8
fall under the Moral Rights category. The French legal system is more
illustrative and elaborates these rights under four categories.
The Right to Claim Ownership (Le droit à la paternité)50 asserts the artist’s
prerogative to demand the mention of her/his name arising from representation,
as well as the right to have it published anonymously. The Right to Respect for
the Integrity of the Work (Le droit au respect de l’intégrité de l’oeuvre)51
assigns the right to defend the integrity of the work from any modification,
coloring, destruction, dismantling, aggregation with other elements, and so
forth. The Right to Disclosure (Le droit de divulgation)52 indicates the artist as
the sole person to authorize the conditions under which the work is revealed to
public, retaining the right to decide when and how the works are presented,
even when a work is commissioned. Lastly, the Right of Repentance or
Withdrawal (Le droit de repentir ou de retrait)53 allows the artist to reverse
her/his decision to make a work public, even when the work’s exploitation
rights are surrendered; but this situation rarely occurs.
2.1.4.2. Economic Rights (Droits patrimoniaux)
The economic rights – called Droit patrimoniaux in the French legal system –
cover the Right of Representation (Le droit de représentation); the Right of
Reproduction (Le droit de reproduction); and the Artist’s Resale Right (ARR -
le droit de suite). As part of an artist’s estate, they can be passed on to heirs
and beneficiaries by the artist’s will.
The former54 refers to the artist’s right to authorize the communication of the
work by any process, including all public presentation, projection, and internet-
50 French “Code de la propriété intellectuelle”, Article L121-1
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/id/LEGIARTI000006278907/2013-04-08/
51 Idem, Article L121-1
52 Idem, Article L121-2
53 Idem, Article L121-4
54 Idem, Article L122-2
2 9
based and/or televised representation as the artist sees fit, or its prohibition
thereof. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)’s Copyright Treaty
requires the authorization of the artist, who is the exclusive owner of copyright
by default for all uses in question. Any unauthorized use of copyrighted
material is deemed as copyright infringement and is legally actionable. The
right to use may be assigned to a third party, like museums that borrow works
for exhibitions. They may be arranged on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis,
by virtue of a contract precisely stipulating the terms of exploitation.
Secondly, the Right of Reproduction concerns the material reproduction of the
work by printing, drawing, engraving, photographing, molding, and
audiovisual recording, all of which allow the work to be communicated to the
public in an indirect way.55 Accordingly, image reproductions, including those
in print, digital-born or digitized publications as well as “museum shop”
merchandises are bound by copyright law, meaning the holder of copyright
retains the right to demand for financial compensation in the event of the
utilization of the work, except cases where such use is granted to a third party
like a publisher or museum.
Artist’s Resale Right (Droit de suite) constitutes a very crucial part of the
economic rights of visual artists, if not the most. It is a legal notion created in
France in 192056 to provide living artists an interest in the commercial value of
their work. However, it was only in September 2001 that a directive was
developed by the EU Commission to enact a homogenous legislative provision
among the 15 member states of the EU, four of which (UK57, Ireland, Austria,
and the Netherlands) had no such norms until then.
55 Idem, Article L122-3 and Article 122-4
56 Mention in the Berne Convention, as per Article 14ter, amended on September 1979, to be
determined by national legislations.
57 To note that the UK was a member of the European Union before its withdrawal on January
31, 2020 popularly called “Brexit”.
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The Directive, legally coming into force in 2006, foresaw to give the artists the
right to a percentage of the profit made on the resale of their works during their
lifetime and to their heirs for 70 years after their death.58 It also included a
retrospectively vested interest to take effect in 2012, for artists who died less
than 70 years earlier. It defined the ARR as an “inalienable” right from the
artist; including those who are not EU nationals but have their residence within
the Union. The artworks to which the ARR would be applicable need to qualify
as original and “unique” works and/or their copies, meaning limited editions,
so long as they have been numbered, signed, or otherwise duly authorized by
the artist.
The reason why it surprisingly took certain countries almost a century to reach
a consensus and to adopt the right has lied in the economic conjuncture: UK,
like USA have opposed to the provision on the grounds that assigning the
royalty to the seller would seriously depress the initial sale prices (Kawashima,
2008) and ultimately damage their trade force; as these countries are also the
centers for the modern and contemporary art markets.59 Anthony Browne,
Chairman of the British Art Market Federation in 2006, argued: “sellers at the
top end of the market would take their collections overseas – particularly to the
USA and Switzerland, where the Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) does not exist.”60
Another article written by Lydiate61 in 200162 touches upon the opposition
voiced by artists who thought such law would “inhibit their freedom to dispose
58 The beneficiaries and heirs of deceased artists are entitled to royalties by virtue of
Amendments to the ARR Regulations that came into force on January 1, 2012.
59 Kawashima recounts the study conducted by Kusin & Co. (2005), published by TEFAF
showing that a total of 8,423 artists in the auction market worldwide in 2003 would have been
eligible for ARR. When broken down to percentages, it shows that US is leading with 61.5%,
UK coming in second with 26.9%, only to leave a mere 7.4% to be distributed among Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany and Sweden who enforced the right in 2003, respectively.
60 Anonymous (2006). “Money for art’s sake”. Crafts, 198, 72.
61 Henry Lydiate is a UK-based lawyer and scholar specialized in international intellectual
property rights and artist estates Lydiate began writing his Artlaw column for Art Monthly in
1976. Between 1976-1978 he conducted The Artlaw Research Project to understand the legal
needs of visual artists in UK, after which he founded Artlaw Services to lead a team of pro
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of the works as they pleased” and even mentions a counter-lobbying campaign
titled “Artists Against Droit de Suite: the European Directive Violates Artists’
Human Rights”, which included well-known artists such as Karel Appel, Georg
Baselitz, Sir Anthony Caro, David Hockney and Sigmar Polke. It was argued
that the ARR would place a burden on non-established artists outside of the
secondary market by obliging them to “forgo a portion of their income for a
possibly larger income in the future” (Filer, 1984).
In return, organizations such as European Visual Artists and DACS asserted
that it is “reasonable to compensate for the cost of missed opportunity,
allowing artists to participate in the profit made” because the true value of a
work is often understood later and that the reputations of artists enhance over
the years in tandem with their expanding work (Kawashima, 2008). These
arguments were endorsed by the idea that the profit made through copyright
can finance the creation of exhibitions, scientific research on the artists, and the
dissemination of their oeuvre (Rolin, 2017).
Today, the discussions over the implementation of ARR continue in the U.S.
Despite the fact it has been on the agenda63 since the late 1970s, the idea of
allowing the artists a share of the profits in the secondary market has been
largely rebuffed except in the State of California.64 In 2018, the “American
Royalties Too” (ART) Act as the most approximate version of its European
counterpart to date, has been proposed but is yet to be enacted. 65
Across the pond, the remuneration of ARR royalties to visual artists or their
heirs who are nationals or residents of the U.K. and countries in the European
bono art lawyers until 1983. In 1984 he co-founded the Design and Artists Copyright Society
in UK. He continues to consult artists and Estates as well as art institutions worldwide.
62 Lydiate, H. (2001). EU Directives: Copyright & Resale Right. Art Monthly, 251, 49.
63 Visual Artists’ Residual Rights Act, introduced in 1978; Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA)
in 1986 and 1987 and reports of U.S. Copyright Office issued in 1992 and 2013.
64 The California Resale Royalty Act (CRRA) was institutionalized in 1977, although
“inconsistently enforced” (Salisbury, 2019)
65 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6868/text
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Economic Area (EEA)66 is in place since 2006. They are contingent on the
resale price67 with a cumulative scale sliding from 4% to 0.25%, and are
applicable under the condition that the copyrighted artwork is subject to a
subsequent sale after its first transfer of ownership, in a country where ARR is
in place and that it is sold through the involvement of an art market
professional above the qualifying threshold of €1000.
Currently there is DACS68 and ACS69 in the UK; VAGA70 and Artists Rights
Society 71 in the USA; and ADAGP 72 in France, which administer the
copyrights and intellectual property on behalf of their registered members –
artists, estates, beneficiaries, trusts, and foundations by tracing sales, collecting
the royalty fees and distributing them to the artists and their beneficiaries.
2.1.5. A Brief Review of Inheritance Tax and Tax Optimizations
While the essential portion of the estate work involves the upkeep of tangible
assets and sustaining the artist’s artistic legacy through the attached intellectual
property rights vested in the legatees, resolving the financial liabilities appears
as the prerequisite for assuming such work. In that respect, these liabilities may
be considered the integral elements of the visual artist estates.
As the artworks – including the personal collections built with the works of
fellow artists – are ratable goods like other material properties, inheriting an
estate may engender a financial burden for the beneficiaries. It involves
66 Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
67 For commercial galleries, the sale price minus VAT, for auction houses the hammer price
(sale price minus VAT and Buyers Premium) is taken into consideration.
68 https://www.dacs.org.uk
69 https://artistscollectingsociety.org
70 http://www.vagarights.com
71 https://arsny.com
72 https://www.adagp.fr/fr
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complex financial procedures, which are oftentimes too challenging for the
legatees, who find themselves in a “Catch-22” situation where they have to
resolve a financial dreadlock and keep honoring the wishes of the artists, as in
the case of painter Donald Judd’s children73 who had to find ways of keeping
the estate as intact as possible (Delistraty, 2018). Similarly, the cause célèbre
of Robert Rauschenberg’s work Canyon74, which was prohibited from selling,
yet was valued at $65 million by IRS, reveals the paradoxical substance of the
taxes imposed on heirs.
As such, the artists may opt to give away their estate’s assets in the form of
gifts (inter vivos transfers) in order to avoid encumbering the heirs with a
significant inheritance tax (IHT).75
This gifting option entails Capital Acquisition Tax (CAT), which arises on the
receipt of assets. In Europe, CAT ranges from 5% to 60%, depending on the
beneficiaries’ level of kinship to the artists and local regulations.76 In U.S. the
top gift and estate tax rate is set at 40%, excluding the state taxes. A tax
deduction on works is possible if the copyright is transferred along with the
gifted work77.
73 Rainer and Flavin Judd each inherited three hundred thousand dollars, but also millions of
dollars in debt. Judd had stipulated in his will that his properties in Marfa, Texas, and in
Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood be maintained in the way that he had painstakingly installed
them. In 2006, they decided to sell thirty-six of their father’s works at Christie’s in New York,
selling twenty-five in just one night in order to secure the rest of the estate assets.
74 The work, owned by the artist’s wife Ileana Sonnabend included a taxidermied bald eagle
affixed to the canvas, which was under protection by the Bold and Golden Eagle Protection Act
of 1940. Sonnabend was granted a special permit to keep the work but was prohibited from
selling it. After Sonnabend’s death, the work on indefinite loan at MET was inherited by her
children who partially sold the collection to create funds for the state inheritance taxes however
could not dispose Canyon to comply with U.S. federal law. However the U.S. Inland Revenue
Service (IRS) had valued the work at $65 millions, requiring the heirs to pay a total of $40.9
millions inheritance tax.
75 In U.K., the IHT may apply on gift(s) made to natural persons during the lifetime of the
artist, whereas gifting to a trust while alive is subject to 20% and after death rate is 40%.
76 Deloitte, 2016, Fine Art – Direct and indirect taxation aspects: A masterwork of complexity.
Accessed on November 6, 2020. Source:
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/lu/Documents/financialservices/
artandfinance/lu-en-artfinance-taxmatrix-16092013.pdf
77 Lerner and Bresler, Art Law 2005, pp.1767f, as cited in Würtenberger (2006).
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Should the beneficiaries dispose of an asset and make a profit thereof, a certain
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is applied on the gain; however, its percentage varies
according to national tax structures and the duration of retaining the artworks78.
In this context, taking out a life insurance policy appears conceivable for the
artists, as the proceeds could be used to cover any tax due. Or, the assets may
be handed over to the beneficiaries “in installments” within the tax-free
margins. The estate can also challenge the appraisals by presenting a notion of
“realized value”, demanding to pay the taxes only at the event of a sale, until
which the works are classed as assets (Laws, 2018).
The “Acceptance-in-Lieu” program in the U.K. is designed to provide the heirs
a tax deduction in exchange of bequeathing works to a public institution, where
the full market price of works is cut from the taxes due. An essential aspect of
such program is that it boosts the public collections (Wood, 2014). In one
sense, it simultaneously provides a solution for taxes and representation, but it
also means sacrificing the potential revenues.
The tax law in Mexico has a similar program with U.K.’s “Acceptance-in-
Lieu”, dating back to 1957, which allows the visual artists to endow a portion
of their annual artistic production as an alternative to paying taxes in cash.
While this does not imply an exemption or deduction in the strict sense of the
word, it is a tax optimization that is designed to relieve the burden of living
artists while generating a significant contribution to the state art collection.79
78 For instance, capital gains on the disposal of art assets are generally fully taxable in
Germany, except the cases where the artworks are held for a period less than a year by a
natural person, whereas in France 5% tax is applied for all sales exceeding €5,000 as opposed
to Switzerland where there is no tax related to the disposal of private assets. In U.K., CGT rate
for individuals is 18% or 28% while in USA works held up to one year are subject to 39.6% or
taxed at a rate of minumum 28%, if they are owned longer than a year. Deloitte, 2016.
79 Wood reports that the program had garnered Mexico State a total of 4,394 artworks by the
time of his article in 2014. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/09/10/paying-taxwith-
art-is-legal-in-uk-mexico-why-not-in-us/?sh=7b92663e43d5.
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Ultimately, a tax deduction or exemption may be granted to artists or estates;
generally on the condition that these entities are benefitting to the public by
making the artworks and other related estate assets public and setting up an
entity that is benefitting the public with charitable purposes, as explained
below.
2.2. THE MANAGEMENT OF VISUAL ARTIST ESTATES
The visual artist estates are often entrusted to certain other forms of
administration by the artists themselves or by virtue of their will after their
death, so that they continue to exert their persona, reflections, and ideals in
integrity. These administrative forms are thus taken as the very extensions of
the estate, in fact as their “afterlife” versions.
In the stewardship of visual artist legacies, Drosdick (2020) distinguishes that
“preservation contains something in its moment, conservation strives to let it
live on.” The estates of visual artists and their legacies can indeed live on, if
strategies are implemented for the present and the future, which see to honor
the artists’ wishes while contextualizing works through a continuous dialogue
with an engaged public. Jones takes this a step further with an analogy:
“An appropriate caretaker is not an undertaker embalming the corpus along
with the corpse. Rather, the sensitive executor is like a gardener, familiar with
art’s ecology, tending the work that remains, balancing the compost of images,
discourse, and materials that generate the capacity for new readings with
exhibitions, careful collection placements, and even an openness to
contemporary artistic appropriations that keep the original alive.” (Jones, 2017,
p.144)
The artist families may be considered as the primary caretakers of an artist’s
legacy given their sentimental investment. However, their foreseeable financial
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expectations from the estate may affect their impartiality. By contrast, the
professionals in visual arts, art law or finance may achieve certain objectives,
but they may lack the affection and deeper understanding the families would
naturally possess.
In such circumstances, a conflict of interest may occur, for instance, dealers
may “cherry-pick” the marketable or profitable works and disregard the rest.
The consensus is that the estates are best managed through a board of executors
comprising both parties so that the artist legacies, as well as the value of the
estates, are enhanced. (Delistraty, 2018; De Oliveira, 2020)
The visual artist estates operate according to two elective temporal models. The
first option is the “sunset model” which implies the dissolution of the estate as
soon as its objectives are met, such as completing the Catalogue Raisonné, the
digitization of an archive, or liquidating its assets through sales or donations,
including those made to the foundations of the artist or other institutions.
The second one is the “eternity model” (also called “in perpetuity model”),
which suggests a longer interval of activity, during which a separate legal
entity is created in order to nurture several different causes and individuals
within the framework of estate’s mission.
With that in mind, an estate may be administered according to its either
profitable or non-profitable objectives. The former commonly indicates to the
private administration and limited companies. The latter objective
predominantly suggests the charitable trusts and private foundations, most
notably the Artist-Endowed Foundations (AEFs).
Before delving into the forms of estate management, it will be helpful to
explore the artist’s will as the chief source of reference that ensures the upkeep
of the estate work in accordance with the artist’s wishes.
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2.2.1. Artist’s Will as The Primary Guideline
A will is the legal declaration of a person’s mind or wishes as to the disposition
of property to take effect at death; hence the ultimate tool of the visual artists,
legitimizing the criteria for the management of their estates and legacies.
Drawing up a will is a complex process wherein the artist should address
numerous and often sensitive questions and engage in multiple dealings with
professionals outside the artistic practice. However grueling, abstaining from
undertaking such a project may be detrimental for the estate. In the lack of a
(valid) will, the artist would be considered to have died “intestate,” meaning all
assets, including all personal property, artwork, moral and economic rights as
well as money, would go through the probate court in accordance with the
intestacy laws80 of the country/state where the artist’s domicile is located, too
often regardless of the artist’s wishes. Furthermore, the proxies of the artist
drift into a bureaucracy while pursuing the Grant of Probate, which bestows the
right to administer the estate. When appointed by the court, they are still to
follow the probate court’s formalities and cover for the funeral expenses, debts,
taxes, and liabilities, after which they would dispose of the assets of the estate
according to the intestacy rules laid down by law.81
From this thesis’s perspective, the absence of this pivotal guide may result in
“a lesser posthumous exposure” in comparison with the recognition gained in
80 For intestacy laws in the U.K. see: https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will;
for the legislation in France, see: https://www.notaires.fr/fr/donationsuccession/
succession/droits-de-succession-ordres-des-héritiers-et-barème-des-droits-desuccession;
and for the State of New York of U.S.A., see:
https://www.nycourts.gov/courthelp/WhenSomeoneDies/intestacy.shtml
81 According to the New York State court for instance, in the absence of a will and thus an
appointed executor of the will, the decedent’s spouse has a prior right over her/his children for
the proceeding of the will. If there is no surviving spouse, then the children of the decedent
have equal rights to each other. If these surviving relatives of the artist with the prior right
refuse to administer the estate, they can sign a renunciation and a waiver, howbeit their shares
of the decedent’s estate are retained.
https://www.nycourts.gov/courthelp/WhenSomeoneDies/intestacy.shtml
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the artist’s lifetime (De Oliveira, 2020). Without the artist’s clear, written
instructions, the future custodians of the estate – curators, in the original and
proper sense of the word – may not be reassured whether their actions are
contributing favorably to the artist’s reputation or not.
The artist, therefore, remains as the principal figure of the will and the most
competent person to formalize the future estate infrastructure by designating
the administrative format in which her/his legacy should be continued; the
executors and the beneficiaries of the estate. The will must invariably convey
these resolutions and respond as to where and how the artistic assets should be
stored; which assets should be made public and restricted thereof; whether the
artworks are to continue generating income through reproductions, posthumous
castings, editions as well as economic rights attached to them; if there are
donations to be made and so forth.
Since the will may only be drawn up while the artist is alive, it may seldom be
deemed final, meaning the artist’s ongoing production and/or new acquisitions
would result in a propagation of the concerned estate. Comparably, artist’s
intentions or assessments regarding his will may change due to external factors,
e.g., marriage, adoption, birth, death, retirement, or a change of financial
circumstance. Under these probable conditions, the artist may choose to revoke
the existing will and replace it with a new one, or supplements called “codicils”
may be appended to the existing will to effect modifications.
In all cases, these applications need to comply with formal requirements
claimed for the execution and validity of the will itself, in order to avoid faults
and pitfalls like leaving multiple wills behind. Usually, a legal attorney assists
the artist in planning the estate and the drafting of the will. It is thus imperative
that the selected attorney is not only knowledgeable about the art law and
artist’s work but also understands and shares the vision of the artist.
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To prevent potential disputes, a will would ideally specify its executors, the
heirs82, legatees83, devisees84 and other types of beneficiaries85 including the
public, nonprofit organizations along with the detailed provisions made in their
name. It would also address whether the artist wishes any artworks to be
endowed and distributed among them, and correspondingly mention those who
should be excluded from receiving what. While doing so, it must be kept in
mind that the physical artwork and the copyright embodied in it are two
distinct entities, as explained in chapter 2.1.4.
Having said this, notifying the beneficiaries and receiving their consent is
crucial since these endowments are not always welcomed. (Picton, 2020) This
is particularly the case for under-celebrated artists.86 As Saul Ostrow87 (Grant,
2018) notes, these gifts are often turned down by museums, and the estate
executors need to go to court to break the will. Even when the donations are
initially admitted, the works are still at the peril of “deaccessioning” from the
museum collections; an act that essentially damages the reputation of the late
artists, negating and betraying their trust all at the same time (Armitstead,
2020; Finkel, 2009; Morales Gomez, 2017).
2.2.2. Private Administration of Estates
The estates of visual artists may be managed privately by their heirs and
beneficiaries appointed in the artist’s will. In this case, the estate is flexible in
82 A person designated by law to succeed to the estate of a person who dies intestate (without a
will). https://www.pittsburghartscouncil.org/storage/documents/visual_artists_estate_plan.pdf
83 The person(s) to whom a legacy – a gift of personal property – is bequeathed by a will, ibid.
84 The person(s) who receive(s) a gift of real estate by a will, ibid.
85 The person(s) who inherit(s) a share of the decedent’s estate; or receives a beneficial interest
under a trust, insurance policy, or retirement plan, ibid.
86 The Art in Perpetuity Trust, established in 1995 in United Kingdom is an exemplary
organization that strives to place the works of unrecognized artists. For more information:
https://www.aptstudios.org
87 Art Legacy Planning is a company founded in New York by art consultant Mart Dinaburg,
critic Saul Ostrow, art historian Kathy Battista and financial planner Bryan Faller, providing
estate management services to artists and art collectors. For more information: http://artlegacy.
com
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its activities as private property and has a profitable object, meaning it is
subject to inheritance tax (IHT) as well as income tax (CGT), whenever a sale
of estate assets takes place.
However, this administration method is not recommended for estates of
established artists since it is prone to disputes among heirs.
2.2.3. Limited Liability Companies
A Limited Liability Company is a separate legal entity and a profit-oriented
administration method. This type of administration is favored when artists wish
the production of their works to continue posthumously; particularly if their
medium allows to be reproduced for editions as in sculptures, prints of
engraving, etching, photography, lens-based new media works and so forth.
Barry Flanagan Estate, for instance, is set up by the sculptor according to the
“in perpetuity” estate model and as a commercial trading entity, which would
proceed with the casting and stamping of his sculptures until all declared
editions are complete. (Laws, 2018).
2.2.4. Trusts
A trust is essentially a private venture and may remain confidential since it is
not obligatory to have them registered or made public as in separate legal
entities. It imposes the administrative duties upon a designated individual
called “trustee,” who legally owns the segregated trust assets on behalf of the
beneficiaries without merging them with her/his private property.
In the context of visual artist estates, trusts deviate from the modality of Private
Estate Administration in the sense that the artist, called “grantor”, devises a
plan for the future by transferring certain assets like artworks, copyrights, real
4 1
estate, and insurances to the trust, instead of leaving them in the hands of
family and/or others (Würtenberger, 2016).
A trust may be created and rendered operative during the grantor’s lifetime
(inter vivos trust) or may go into effect upon her/his death (testamentary trust).
Viewed in this way, the notion presents a similarity with the will, especially in
the case of “Revocable Trusts” which can be terminated and whose property
can be recovered with estate tax consequences: upon the artist’s death, the
trustee disposes the assets among heirs and beneficiaries according to the terms
of the trust, hence a substitute of the will.88 An important example of this type
is the Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust (RRRT), which later dissolved
and transferred the assets to The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.89
By contrast, in an “Irrevocable Trust” the grantor waives the rights to revoke
the trust. This allows the trust to be established as a “Charitable Remainder
Trust” which qualifies for income, gift, or estate tax deductions by proclaiming
charitable and private benefit (split-interest) functions.
This type of trust generates liquidity through the controlled sales of assets it
holds, and with that income, provides for90 one or more natural beneficiaries,
typically to the family of the artist for a period of time or for life; then upon
termination of this portion, pays the remainder over to a designated charity. In
that respect, charitable trusts are considered like private foundations in the U.S.
(Würtenberger, 2016).
88 https://www.pittsburghartscouncil.org/storage/documents/visual_artists_estate_plan.pdf
89 The legal dispute of the RRRT trustees with the Foundation regarding their fees is an
exemplary case, revealing the potential input of trustees. For more information:
https://itsartlaw.org/2014/10/29/rauschenberg-estate-saga-of-trust-and-fees-explained/
90 If the portion of payout made to beneficiaries is based on a fixed percentage of the value of
assets held in trust that is annually recalculated, it is called a “Charitable Remainder Unitrust”.
If however, the amount paid to beneficiaries is a fixed amount, it is called “Charitable
Remainder Annuity Trust”. In both cases, the trust qualifies for tax deductions due to the
portion that is paid to charities.
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An important example for collective trusts is the Artist Pension Trust (APT)
that was founded in 2004. Having signed over 2,000 artists worldwide and
amassed some 13,000 works, the trust proposed that “pooling the proceeds
from sales of the art will allow for a steady stream of revenue to be returned to
participants;” however the trust has received a backlash in 2017 for its
amendment that required the artists to pay for the storage of their art, or to store
the works at their own expense. (Kinsella, 2017) This incident has revealed not
only the financial precarity of visual artists but also the potential disputes that
may arise when estates are managed merely with a business perspective.
2.2.5. Foundations
Foundations are elementarily defined as tax-exempt charitable organizations.
Those two attributives are reciprocal notions, meaning the exemption of tax is
contingent upon the public benefit. In other words, the income of a foundation
is not taxed so that the entity can allocate this amount for its charitable
purposes. They are set up by deeds of trust and require trustees, among which
may be the estate’s beneficiaries to ensure the fulfillment of moral duties.
A foundation may be created and funded by the general public, like universities
and museums, which is then called a “public charity”. From the view point of
visual artist estates however, the pertinent type is called a “private foundation”,
meaning the organization is founded either by an artist (inter vivos setup)91, or
by their families according to the artist’s will (testamentary setup), or by other
beneficiaries (posthumous setup). A private foundation usually takes over the
estate’s tangible and intangible assets for employing them in diverse charitable
activities designed to serve a public benefit. As such, these assets are called
“charitable use assets” in contrast to “investment assets” which imply they are
put up for sale with the expectation of a profit.
91 It is possible to argue that the inter vivos and testamentary setup models would reflect the
artist’s wishes and intentions best, like the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and its AIDS
cause.
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Given the transaction of assets from the estate to the organization, these
foundations are dubbed as “Artist-Endowed Foundations” (AEFs). By the same
token, they are often confused with the privately administered estates or family
collections; however, as charitable legal entities, AEFs are scrutinized and
strictly regulated by the law,92 particularly against “self-dealing,” which refers
to any activity that benefits the insiders.
Christine J. Vincent (2019) outlines the functions of AEFs under three93 main
categories: The first is the “Grantmaking Foundations” which solely provide
grants to support non-profit organizations and individuals without employing
its charitable use assets, like The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
(AWFVA).94 The second is the “Study and Exhibition Foundations” which
directly puts its charitable use assets into use and for scholarly research,
publications, and exhibitions, like the Irving Penn Foundation.95 The third one
is the “Comprehensive Foundations” which adopts the combination of these
objectives and furthers its engagement with the artistic community through
artist residency programs, like the Joan Mitchell Foundation.96
AEFs explained above have been increasing in number since the Postwar
period, and more so in the first half of the 2010s,97 particularly in the U.S.A.98
92 In U.S.A. under federal tax code, foundations as tax-exempt charity organizations are
obliged to disclose their donors and gifts and they are subject to the annual payout requirement,
which is calculated according to the total value of assets. If assets in question are designated as
“charitable use assets” they are not taken into consideration when calculating the payout figure.
93 Vincent indicates a fourth category of AEFs under the title of “Estate Distribution
Foundations” which is essentially the “Sunset Model” explained above, which lasts when the
estate’s objectives are met. This model is opted for smaller estates that cannot afford an “In
Perpetuity” model.
94 https://warholfoundation.org
95 https://irvingpenn.org
96 “Creating a Living Legacy” (CALL) program of the Foundation provides support for the
older artists for the establishment of their archives and inventory management since 2007.
https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org
97 https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ongoing-artist-as-philanthropist-report-tracks-the-rise-ofendowed-
foundations-1463578
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due to several factors. One of these factors concerns the philanthropic interests
of the artists whose foundations support the artistic and educational ventures
through diverse activities and sustains “bloodlines” at a time when federal
funding for arts is decreasing (Berghoff, 2014). Berghoff touches upon a
crucial aspect of the AEFs: supporting experimental artists and art forms that
lack mass appeal is a shared legacy of AEFs who “give back” through their
means.
By extension, De Oliveira brings up a radical perspective on the second factor:
“…desire to support like-minded practices (…) underlines not only a generosity
of spirit, but presents also an example of continued co-authorship, which does
not solely reside in the body of a work, but in the impact and influence it has on
the wider cultural field”. (De Oliveira, 2020)
A third and self-explanatory factor is the charitable deduction of taxes that are
used for promoting the artist legacies, which then brings the whole context of
estates full circle: Charitable causes like grants and residencies, albeit crucial
and endorsing, are not as elucidative for the artist’s persona and body of work.
On that basis, an AEF functioning under a private foundation often morphs into
a private museum by establishing a separate public charity or by entirely
converting to the public charity status, both of which allow the general public
to engage with the foundation as benefactors on more favorable terms for tax
(Vincent, 2019).
2.2.5.1. Artist Museums
As discussed in the first chapter of the thesis, the artistic estate comprising the
artworks, the archive, houses, and/or studios is the principal tool that relays the
art historical account of the artist. That being the case, a private museum is
98 https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/program-on-philanthropy-and-social-innovationpsi/
artist-endowed-foundations-initiative/
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arguably the beau idéal of many artists: it keeps their works and archive
together, cross-referencing one another; focuses exclusively on the artists while
showcasing diverse layers of their work; which in turn promote their legacies.
As indicated by Würtenberger (2016), private museums of visual artists too
often indicate a regional connection due to the third-party sponsorships they
necessitate, like the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburg; the Munch Museum in
Oslo; the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam; or The Joan Miró Foundation in
Barcelona, among numerous other examples. She explains that an artist being a
local of a country, province, or municipality, would often attract fellow
citizens, businesses, and local authorities to endorse these museum projects.
Since the Postwar period, the living and working spaces of the artists are
increasingly seized upon as settings for private artist museums given their
authenticity, which allows investigating the creative processes of the artists and
visualizing their personal lives. According to the Artist’s Studio Museum
Network (ASMN)’s 2019 survey,99 over half of “studio-museums” are founded
after the 1950s, and nearly the quarter since the 2000s, while 29% of these
were founded by the artist or initiated on account of their will by their families.
Another important piece of data concerns the ownership of these museums and
indicates that 40% of these belong to either a trust or a foundation.
Through temporary exhibitions, public and educational programs, research
projects 100 academic partnerships 101 and artistic residencies, 102 these
institutions, whose visitors are mostly (over 75%) domestic, underline a
99 The study is conducted among 151 member museums from 23 countries by the ASMN, and
has been initiated in the U.K. Accessed on December 10, 2020. For more information:
https://www.artiststudiomuseum.org/media/file/ASMN_2019_Survey_Report_Magnus_von_
Wistinghausen.pdf
100 According to the survey, 86% of the studio-museums hold archives.
101 The study shows that 56% of the studio-museums are engaged in academic partnerships;
29% are collaborative exhibitions, 27% are research projects and 37% correspond to research
seminars.
102 While the 81% of the artist-museums work with contemporary artists, 23% of these grant
residencies regardless of their size.
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correlation between their activities and their local public outreach, which then
conceivably translates into their native discourse of art history.
2.2.6. External Representation of the Estates: Commercial Art Galleries
The visual artist estates often manage, promote, and deal their artwork assets
through diverse modalities, as explained above. Yet, they may deliberately
keep their distance from commercial activities and opt to entrust this task to a
professional dealer or a commercial gallery, which usually represents the artists
during their lifetime. Representation usually refers to a non-exclusive
consignment relationship with a contract indicating the commission rates, and
which allows to be periodically revised.
It is possible to argue several reasons why a commercial gallery collaboration
is more appealing for the estates: galleries may help to digitize the archives,
compile publications, store the works, and mediate on behalf of the estates with
museums in addition to exhibiting the works. Moreover, as Gleadell (2009)
indicates, the representation of a certain gallery “can impact quickly on the
market,” meaning the market value of works may soar in the wake of such
affiliations. This has been the case for Lee Lozano103, whose paintings have
substantially increased in price after Hauser&Wirth signed her; yet the estate’s
manager Barry Rosen points out to a greater goal, namely the re-writing of art
history104 (Taylor, 2009). Indeed, the artists may be re-contextualized in
relation to the gallery’s legacy and the fellow artists in the roster. The same
article of Taylor reports that the Alice Neel Estate reckons their liaison with
David Zwirner as a move towards placing the artist in the contemporary
context rather than a historical one.
103 American artist Lee Lozano (1930-1999) is known for her paintings and conceptual and
performance works.
104 Taylor notes the direct relation between galleries and art history writing through the
example of PaceWildenstein’s president Marc Glimcher, who owns the publishing company
Artifex Press. The company dedicated to creating digital CRs has worked on the projects of
artists represented by Pace, like Agnes Martin and Sol LeWitt.
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Since the beginning of the 2000s, however, it became evident that the galleries
are implicitly after signing visual artist estates. A general motive is maintaining
close relationships with the established estates, thus controlling the remaining
unsold works, namely the supply, and by extension, having a certain authority,
at times even a monopoly over the artists (De Oliveira, 2020). A remarkable
example of this position is the Ropac Gallery105 who has become the sole
representative of Joseph Beuys Estate globally at the close of deliberations,
which lasted five years (Duponchelle, 2018). Estates whose works have “art
historical merit that had not reached their full market potential” (Hanson, 2017)
have also come under the radar as new resources for the primary market since
most secondary market artists are already signed by galleries.
Such collaborations are widely considered mutually beneficial: the galleries
keep the artists and their work relevant by fostering contemporary critical
attention and derive benefit from their achievements in return, which invigorate
the gallery program as a whole. Even so, the gallery-estate collaboration is not
immune to conflicts of interest since both parties have distinct natures and very
distinct priorities. A striking example is the Francis Bacon Estate and
Marlborough Fine Art’s case, where the gallery had also assumed the execution
of the estate and was accused of grossly undervaluing and plundering the
estate, hence the violation of fiduciary obligations.
2.2.7. Exit Strategies: Institutional Donations
Due to constraints of budget, space and/or time, or because the heirs prefer to
surrender their obligations, visual artist estates may be donated partially or
105 Founded in 1983 by Thaddaeus Ropac, the galleries have spaces in London, Paris, Salzburg
and Seoul: In addition to the exclusive representation of Beuys Estate, the gallery represents
the estates of Rosemarie Castoro Estate, Harun Farocki Estate, James Rosenquist Estate,
Sturtevant Estate as well as Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Irving Penn Foundation, Robert
Rauschenberg Foundation and Emilio Vedova Foundation. For more information:
https://ropac.net
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entirely to institutions like universities, museums, and public archives.106 The
Philippe Vandenberg’s archive, for instance, is donated to the Gent University
Library107 in the artist’s native city, whereas the Mayen Beckmann has donated
her grandfather, Max Beckmann’s archive and library to Munich’s
Pinakotheken.108
This transfer of ownership is sometimes an emotional process for the artist
families and can seem like “another death as the material remains of the
practice leave the premises, heading towards vaults” (Reed, 2017).
However, all things considered, this externalization usually contributes to the
legacy of the artist: Being included in the public database of an established
institution underlines the historical significance of the artist, ensures the long
term conservation of their donations, and enables access, promoting research
(Connolly, n.d. & Vaknin et al., 2013).
106 It is worthy to note that certain institutions like NIVAL in Ireland and, INHA and IMEC in
France are rather interested in the documents revealing the circumstances in which works have
emerged. These include audio-visual documentation pertaining to artworks, press releases,
invites, press clippings, exhibition reviews, brochures, price lists and small-scale catalogues &
gallery plans, exhibition programs, correspondences, letters, financial notebooks, diaries,
visitor books, photographs, research notes, materials and other personal memorabilia/ephemera
of sentimental value.
107 Accessed on December 7, 2020: https://lib.ugent.be/fulltxt/RUG01/002/305/757/RUG01-
002305757_2018_0001_AC.pdf
108 Accessed on December 8, 2020: https://www.artforum.com/news/munich-s-pinakothekenreceives-
donation-of-max-beckmann-s-personal-effects-66949
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CHAPTER 3
3. THE CASE OF VISUAL ARTIST ESTATES IN TURKEY
As explained in the previous chapter, the estates of visual artists have gained
significance in tandem with the growth of global art market from 1970’s
onwards, in view of their implication on art history and by extension, on
cultural and artistic heritage. The assets of estates have begun being reckoned
as the raw material for writing an accurate and comprehensive historical
account of the artists and as bequests of collective memory rather than mere
commodities in the art market. Consequently, the artistic milieu in the
countries where estates gained recognition have begun establishing paradigms
and ethics for the management of estates, constituting conferences and
publications, or forming institutional entities which would help to orchestrate
the estates in the best interest of the artists and public.
In this chapter, the context in Turkey will be explored to determine, to what
extent the concept of visual artist estates is apprehended and whether there are
any measures or regulations in place to preserve and promote the legacies of
artists. Ultimately different cases of legacy stewardship will be inquired under
six different categories to ascertain their approaches and problems regarding
visual artist estates in Turkey.
3.1. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CONCEPT
In Turkey, the 1980’s mark a boom in the artistic sphere and its integration in
to an operational art market in tandem with the neoliberal global economic
policies. However, before delving into the 1980’s, it will be helpful to briefly
examine the historical background of the development in the artistic milieu and
the pursuits of its stakeholders in Turkey.
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The gist and cognizance of artistic legacies is essentially found in the last
period of the Ottoman Empire. In his book “L’art ottoman”, Adolphe Thalasso
writes on the first Istanbul Salon, which took place in 1901, and recounts that a
group of artists comprised of the non-muslim instructors at Sanayi-i Nefise
School109 have organized the exhibition, and that they have also contributed
financially to the project in order to “transfer their oeuvre to next generations”.
Journalist and critic Regis Delbeuf, who is among the organizers of the Salon
propounds that the artists are the absolute authority for pricing their works
given they are the true owners of their oeuvre (Sinanlar Uslu, 2010 as cited in
Rastgeldi, 2019). This period also sees the founding of the Ottoman
Association of Painters110 with court’s support. It is noteworthy that the
association has regulated the sales of their exhibitions with a program (Öz,
2013), however the emphasis has been laid on creating a market interest and
demand for arts rather than the preservation of heritage.
At the turn of the century, the political and social transformation to modern
Turkey has resulted in the stagnation of cultural activities in the first period of
republic, due to the shortage of financial means as well as the scarcity of court
elites and intelligentsia who demanded art, but had fled the country (Üstünipek,
1998). Right after the foundation of the republic, the state has devised new
policies to create domestic capital as well as “to cultivate a national and local
bourgeoisie, which was seen as the fundamental mechanism of progress and
modernism” (Boratav, 2009 as cited in Rastgeldi, 2019).
In the same period, the state has given weight on cultural policies based on its
objectives of modernization and Westernization, in order to reconstruct the
country through the cultural revolution (Korur, 2008, p.12) and endorsed the
109 “The Imperial School of Fine Arts”, founded by Turkish archeologist, art historian, curator
and artist Osman Hamdi Bey in 1882.
110 Osmanlı Ressamlar Cemiyeti.
5 1
activities of State Painting and Sculpture Exhibitions, Galatasaray Exhibitions,
Fine Arts Association and community centers “halkevleri” scattered around
Anatolia; furthermore scholarships have been granted to artists111 to enroll in
foreign art academies, particularly in Germany and France (Korur, 2008, p.63)
in order to stimulate supply and create demand for visual arts across Turkey.
That said, the visual artists in Istanbul who were exposed to European artistic
environment through the aforementioned scholarships abroad, have formed
artistic groups like Independent Association of Painters and Sculptors and d
Group.
The initial examples of privately owned, commercial art galleries emerged in
this period: the “Taksim Permanent Painting and Sculpture Gallery” opened in
February 1939 but the building was demolished shortly after. The ceramic
artist İsmail Hakkı Oygar’s gallery in his studio space was another notable
venture in terms of the initiatives the artists took but could only continue its
activities for two years. (Öz, 2013; Rastgeldi, 2019). Coincidentally with the
regression of state patronage, the private art galleries began appearing in
Turkey after 1950’s and exhibitions focusing on individual artists have gained
momentum.
Founded in 1950 by Adalet Cimcoz, Maya Art Gallery has been a pioneer in
the field. It was perhaps the first professional commercial art establishment in
the country that organized solo exhibitions and cut 25% commission from the
sales to sustain the gallery. In return, the Gallery not only promoted artists112
but also supported them and brought them in direct contact with contemporary
111 Among the painters who were sent to France in the first year of Republic, in 1924 are Cevat
Dereli, Refik Epikman, Şeref Akdik, Mahmut Cuda and Muhittin Sebati in addition to those
who were sent to Germany, namely Ahmet Zeki Kocamemi and Ali Avni Çelebi. (Korur, 2008,
p.31-32.)
112 Among the artists who have been exhibited at Maya Gallery are: Avni Arbaş, Nuri İyem,
Fethi Karakaş, Ömer Uluç, Kemal Sönmezler, Ferruh Başağa, Fikret Otyam, Yüksel Arslan,
Adnan Çoker, Kuzgun Acar and Ali Teoman Germaner.
5 2
writers, which helped to include their accounts in the written art history (Öz,
2013).
The 1960’s are regarded as a preparatory period for the art market in Turkey.
New art spaces opening within prestigious retails like Vakko and Galeri
Milar113; the prominent emergence of capital groups like those of Sabancı and
Koç families as future art patrons; and the bank collections such as Akbank,
Halkbank and Yapı Kredi are important developments of the period. In
conjunction with the wealth growth of these different sectors, a collector group,
represented by the likes of Kemal Erhan114, Mesut Hakgüden115, Jale Yasan116,
Sabahattin Ergi117 and Hüseyin Kocabaş118 began to take shape in Istanbul and
Ankara towards 1970s (Serpil, 2006, p.68-72).
In the 1970’s Melda Kaptana’s gallery has become a prominent hub for the
artistic milieu in Istanbul until 1977. However the dynamics of this period still
focused on the marketing of artworks by the former generation of artists to
elites without any concerns about the groundwork of the bourgeoning art
market. (Pelvanoğlu, 2015, as cited in Rastgeldi, 2019). In fact, Aydın Cumalı
states that in the 1970’s the galleries had no point of reference for the prices of
artworks, and the works of artists from distinct periods were same as if
identical commodities.
113 Founded by the architect, publisher, graphic and furniture designer, Selçuk Milar in 1957 in
Ankara, the Milar Gallery was selling contemporary furniture in the Italian and Danish style,
along with the works of Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Abidin Dino, Avni Arbaş, Füreyya, Orhan
Peker and Ferruh Başağa among others. (Ünalın, 2012).
114 Kemal Erhan was the co-owner of Hayat magazine and has written a book on Hoca Ali Rıza
alongside his activities as a collector. (Serpil, 2006, p.68).
115 Hakgüden was a lawyer, who has founded the “Society of Antiquarians and Appreciators of
Artifacts” (Antikacılar ve Eski Eserleri Severler Derneği) in 1971 (Serpil, 2006, p.69).
117 A collector of painters from the generation of 1930s, Ergi has been adamant about opening a
“house-museum” according to the article written for Milliyet Sanat magazine by Kaya
Özsezgin in 1975 (Özsezgin; 1975, p.18 quoted from Serpil, 2006, p.71).
118 Serpil (2006, p.71-72) states that Kocabaş has amassed an enormous collection of
archeological artifacts and visual artworks that amounted to 7500 items.
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A more striking case in this context is the Galeri Baraz, whose founder Yahşi
Baraz has professed that he had found many important Turkish paintings in the
desolated mansions neglected during urbanization, saying that he “took
possession” of those works (Öz, 2013). Although Baraz’s actions can be
argued to have helped saving these works from being destroyed, the very act
underlines the undeclared modality of operations, which had reflected the ethos
of the times.
The new economic policies of neoliberalism in the 1980’s have boosted the
accumulation of capital and that directly reflected on the art scene. In this
period the group of collectors has expanded, new private banks have been
founded; these establishments began collecting artworks and opening
exhibition spaces. In response to this demand, several art galleries successively
opened, such as Galeri Lebriz, Istanbul (1980), Urart Sanat Galerisi, Istanbul
(1981), Galeri Siyah Beyaz, Ankara (1984), and Galeri Nev, Ankara (1984)
among many others (Saçlı, 2016).119
This surge of cultural spaces is also owed to the need for intellectual settings in
the face of oppression following the coup d’état in September 12, 1980. As
Deniz Artun explains, in the early periods of Galeri Nev, the demand was not
towards owning works but rather for solidarity among the intelligentsia. The
gallery thus followed a similar pattern with its precursor Maya Art Gallery, and
brought the artists together with art historians and critics within the compass of
its programs, thus acted as an agent for the inclusion of their oeuvre in the art
history, at a time when the state museum in Ankara had been recently opened
and private museums were nonexistent (Istanbul Art News, March 2014).
As the state’s support narrowed down to state museums, the increased activity
and support of private sector corporations in the 1990’s have facilitated the
119 The dissertation of Erhan Saçlı is very illustrating in terms of the distribution of exhibition
models in the 1980’s however the research does not explore the galleries’ activities regarding
the legacy stewardship and dwells on the marketing operations.
5 4
integration of art scene of Turkey in the global artworld. This was
predominantly evident with the International Istanbul Biennial, which raised
awareness in the scholarly research on artist estates in conjunction with the
notion of independently curated exhibitions. A prototype of these was the
exhibition series, “Memory/Recollection”120 curated by Vasıf Kortun,121 who
has been on the forefront of non-commercial initiatives that underlined the
historical significance of artistic productions in the late 1990’s.
In addition to private museums that opened in the early 2000’s, two critical
establishments regarding the conservation of artistic heritage were the Platform
Garanti Contemporary Art Center, which encompassed a contemporary art
library and archive and the Santralistanbul, which embodied an art museum
and an archive. While the Platform’s library and archive were opened to public
as “Open Library” in 2007 and were then transformed into SALT after merging
with Ottoman Bank Archives in 2011; Santralistanbul’s art center, which
opened in 2007, could sustain its activities only until 2013, when the
permanent collection was auctioned off at Maçka Mezat (Rastgeldi, 2019).
This sale received a strong backlash given some works were donated by the
artists and/or their estates. The art archive of Zeynep Rona, once incorporated
to Santralistanbul, has also become forlorn until its adoption by the Mimar
Sinan University (Altuğ, 2014).
Another critical threshold for the development of visual arts landscape in
Turkey has been the auctions since early 2000’s. The sale of the bankrupt
120 The first of the exhibition series, “Memory/Recollection I” has opened at Taksim Art
Gallery in December 9, 1991 and was prolonged until January 8, 1992 (originally the closing
date was announced as December 30, 1991). It was followed by the “Memory/Recollection II”,
which opened in May 4-25, 1993 at building #50 at Akaretler Row Houses in Istanbul. Source:
SALT Research, online archives: https://archives.saltresearch.org/handle/123456789/199631;
https://archives.saltresearch.org/handle/123456789/1148.
121 It is very crucial to note that Kortun has founded the Istanbul Contemporary Art Project
(ICAP) in Tunel, which encompassed a library and an archive. Also hosting a series of
contemporary art semimars, this institution, which was active from 1998 to 2000, was a
pioneer model for future establishments led by Kortun.
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Iktisat Bank Collection, and the aforementioned sale of Santralistanbul
collection have sparked off arguments about the preservation of collections. As
Rastgeldi (2019) indicates in her dissertation the fact that these incidents were
featured in the economy pages of newspapers, the artworks began to be
perceived by general public as investment goods rather than in terms of their
art historical merits. This perception was furthered by the modern and
contemporary art auctions organized by international companies like
Sotheby’s122, Bonhams123 and Christie’s124 focusing on Turkey.125
While these auctions created an interest in the artistic scene of Turkey, and
propelled the foreign curators, collectors and representatives of institutions to
visit the Istanbul Biennial and art galleries in Istanbul between 2011-2013 as
attested by Haldun Dostoğlu126 (Toksöz, 2019), the rapid acceleration of the
market activity in Turkey based on the sheer commercial objective of tapping
into an international art market may have created a diversion from the focus of
non-commercial, heritage-oriented management for the visual arts.
3.2. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK
In Turkey, the main legal structure for the intellectual and artistic works is the
Law No. 5846127, which came into force on January 1, 1952. According to the
122 The first sale focusing exclusively on the modern and contemporary Turkish art took place
in March 4, 2009 at Sotheby’s London. The same auction house organized other sales on April
15, 2010 and April 7, 2011. https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=turkish&tab=auctions
123 “Modern & Contemporary Turkish Art” sale was organized at Bonhams in London on April
5, 2011. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19267/
124 Christie’s sale “Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish Art” took place on
April 19, 2011. For details, see: https://www.christies.com/en/auction/auction-8057-
dub?filters=&page=2&searchphrase=&sortby=lotnumber&themes=
125 It is worth noting that other sales at Sotheby’s and Bonhams featuring works by artists from
Turkey were organized, but they were rather grouped under “Islamic”, “Indian” or “Middle
Eastern” sales after 2011.
126 http://qpmagtr.com/roportaj/haldun-dostoglu-ile-galeri-nev-istanbulun-32-yillik-parkuru/
127 “Fikir ve Sanat Eserleri Kanunu”, Translation of the Law by Asst. Prof. Dr. Gül Okutan
Nilsson with Asst. Prof. Dr. Feyzan Hayal Şehirali Çelik: Law on Intellectual and Artistic
Works (Fikir ve Sanat Eserleri Kanunu) Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul, Vol. 38.
2006 No. 55 (331-394). From:
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definition given in the Article 1, the purpose of this law is “to establish and
protect the moral and economic rights, on their products, of authors who create
intellectual and artistic works (…); to regulate the conditions of exploitation of
such products and to determine the sanctions for exploitations in breach of such
rules and procedures.”
As established by this definition, the Turkish law system recognizes the
Copyright as an aggregate of moral and economic rights, in conformity with
the EU law and international norms. Correlatively, Turkey is a signatory of
international treaties and agreements in alignment with WIPO standards128,
including The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic
Works129, which came into force in Turkey the same date as the very law, on
January 1, 1952; also notably coinciding with the emergence of private art
galleries in Turkey, as explained in Chapter 3.1.
Before delving into the types of copyrights pronounced in Law No. 5846,
reviewing the definition of “Works of Fine Arts” in the Article 4 of the same
law is quite revealing as regards to its somewhat inadequate scope in the face
of contemporary arts’ ever-expanding spectrum. As a matter of fact, the article
emphasizes that these works holding “aesthetic value” cover a variety of
artistic productions like oil and watercolor paintings, drawings, engravings,
gildings, carvings, calligraphic works, silk-screen printing, graphic works,
cartoons, photographical works and slides as well as three-dimensional
sculptural works, to name a few. The definition is extended to the handicrafts,
textiles and fashion designs as well as architectural works, yet it discards a
crucial circumstance in contemporary art: the dematerialization of art towards
1970s has culminated in the creation of post-medium artworks like
https://www.telifhaklari.gov.tr/resources/uploads/2015/10/26/Law%20on%20Intellectual%20a
nd%20Artistic%20Works%20No.5846.pdf
128 See the full list of WIPO-administered treaties that are contracted by Turkey:
https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/treaties/ShowResults?country_id=173C
129 See: https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/
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performance and the New Media130 art driven by new technologies, as briefly
mentioned in Chapter 1.2. The current legislation for the copyrights is therefore
imperfect in addressing these new forms of authorship using electronic media
and their dissemination under Fine Arts, except for the photographic works.
Coincidentally, Turkey is not among the contracting parties of the Beijing
Treaty on Audiovisual Performances131.
On the other hand, the moral rights in the Law No. 5846 are consistent with the
European legislation expounded in Chapter 2.1.4.1. and, are divided among
four articles: The first of these is Article 14 (Authority to Disclose the Work to
the Public)132, which states the author’s exclusive right to make a work public
by reserving her/him the right to prohibit the promotion or publication of the
work, where the modality of disclosure is of such nature as would damage the
honor and reputation of the author. According to the Article 15 (The Authority
to Designate the Name)133, the right to decide whether the work would be
disclosed to public with or without the name of the author, or under a
pseudonym is exclusively vested in the author. Also, Article 16 (Prohibition of
Modification)134 states that no abbreviations, additions or other modifications
may be made to a work, or to the name of its author without her/his consent;
again reserving him/her the right to prohibit any sort of modifications that
prejudice or damage the reputation of the author and the work. Additionally,
the Article 17 (Rights of the Author against Persons Who Own or Possess a
Work) states that the author may request a unique work from its owner to
feature it in retrospective exhibitions, subject to conditions of protection and
provided that it would be returned to the owner. It is worth noting that the same
130 New Media art defines the artworks which use sophisticated new technologies like Artificial
Intelligence, Virtual Reality, browser art and software art in the wake of digitalism after 1980s.
131 Beijing Treaty was adopted on June 24, 2012 and came into force on April 28, 2020. For
further information: https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/beijing/
132 This article confirms with “The Right to Disclosure” (Le droit de divulgation) and is
appended on February 21, 2001 (4630/8) “The Right of Repentance or Withdrawal” (Le droit
de repentir ou de retrait).
133 This article confirms with “The Right to Claim Ownership” (Le droit à la paternité).
134 This article confirms with “The right to Respect for the Integrity of the Work” (Le droit au
respect de l’intégrité de l’oeuvre).
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article points out to the fact that persons who deal the works are obliged to
disclose such right in auction or sale catalogues, or on related documents
written for the buyers of the work; yet in practice, it remains unclear whether
such information is properly imparted.135
The economic rights in the Turkish law taxonomically differ from their
counterparts in the European legislation and encompass five different rights
independent of one another, which also last throughout the author’s lifetime
and 70 years following her/his death, as opposed to moral rights which are
temporally unlimited.
The first expressed in the Article 21 (Right of Adaptation), entitles the author
exclusively with the right to exploit a work by adapting it. The Article 22
(Right of Reproduction), implies the author’s right to reproduce copies of a
work in any form or by any method, wholly or partially, directly or indirectly,
temporarily or permanently.136 The Article 23 (Right of Distribution), accords
the right to rent, sell or distribute the original or copies of a work to the author;
in addition to the right to import copies of a work that have been reproduced
abroad with her/his permission and to exploit such works by way of
distribution. The Article 24 (Right of Performance) covers exclusively the
author or the authorized persons’ right of exploiting a work through
performance, whereas the Article 25 (Right to Communicate a Work to Public
by Devices Enabling the Transmission of Signs, Sounds and/or Images) refers
135 There is no relevant clause regarding Article 17 in “The Conditions of Participating at an
Auction” as promulgated on Artam Antik A.Ş. auction house’s website. See:
https://artam.com/muzayede-katilim-sartlari
136 An exemplary, on-going trial regarding the violation of Article 21 and Article 22 in Turkey
concerns artist Sarah Morris, whose paintings were shown at Dirimart Gallery in 2016, then
were unlawfully used by fashion designer Cengiz Abazoğlu, who reproduced her work in 2019
for the prêt-a-porter retailer Adil Işık. From the online Zoom interview with Okke&Hekim
Law Office, held on May 31, 2021. For the press coverage of the trial, see also:
https://www.sabah.com.tr/magazin/2020/09/03/dunyaca-unlu-ressam-sarah-morristen-cengizabazogluna-
sok-dava-1599086242?paging=2
5 9
to the exclusive rights of communicating the original or copies of a work by
broadcasting.137
While these last two articles fall under the Right of Reproduction (Le droit de
reproduction) clauses in the European legislation, the third and a very pivotal
part of the European economic rights, namely the ARR is not assigned under
the category of economic rights (Articles 20-25) but is amended to the Law as
per Article 45, “Payment of a Share of Sale Proceeds of Works of Fine Arts”.
The decree138 of the cabinet of ministers stipulates that each time the works of
Fine Arts defined in Article 4 mentioned above, (excluding the architectural
works) or their limited original copies are subjected to a re-sale and a
difference between prices, that is to say, a profit occurs, the natural or legal
sellers are to pay a share of the price difference varying from 8 to 10% to the
author or, if the author in question is deceased, to their heirs, or in the absence
of heirs to a relevant collecting society. However, it also remains unclear
whether the galleries impart this information at the initial sales of works, or if
auction houses meet the law; given information accessed online demonstrates
that auction houses may claim the right of recourse from the ARR.139
At this juncture, a newspaper article is informative in terms of the current
activities of collection societies and ARR in Turkey: According to the attorney
of GESAM140 (Güzel Sanat Eseri Sahipleri Meslek Birliği – Collecting Society
of Authors of Fine Art), Abdullah Egeli, the beneficiaries incur a loss of
revenue whereas the state suffers the loss of tax, adding that their lawsuit filed
in 2011 for the ARR compensation in the name of two deceased artists without
137 Painter Aylin Zaptçıoğlu has filed and won a lawsuit on this clause, claiming for the
compensation for her artworks, which were shown on a television series without her consent.
For more information, see: https://www.kulturservisi.com/p/aylin-zaptcioglu-ufak-tefekcinayetlerde-
izinsiz-kullanilan-tablolari-icin-yapimci-sirkete-actigi-davayi-kazandi/
138 Güzel Sanat Eserleri, İlim ve Edebiyat Eserleri İle Musiki Eserlerinin El Yazısıyla Yazılmış
Asıllarının Satış Bedellerinden Pay Verilmesine İlişkin Karar: https://teftis.ktb.gov.tr/TR-
263695/guzel-sanat-eserleri-ilim-ve-edebiyat-eserleri-ile-musi-.html
139 See Article no. 21 on the “The Conditions of Participating at an Auction” as stated on
Artam Antik A.Ş. auction house’s website. See: https://artam.com/muzayede-katilim-sartlari
140 http://gesam.org.tr/
6 0
families, namely Mihri Müşfik and Fikret Mualla, whose works were auctioned
off by Alif Art141 would be a leading case.142 However, it could not be
ascertained to which degree the significance of the case was comprehended in
the arts sector in Turkey, given the Supreme Court database, Kazancı143, does
only lead to a single case regarding Article 45, which does not involve authors
of Fine Art first hand.144
In Turkey, the works of Fine Art and the rights of authors are thus protected by
the Law No. 5846, and their registration is not a prerequisite to establish rights;
the enforcement and protection of copyright starts with the creation of work.
Yet, it must be noted that the musical and cinematographic works must be
registered before the General Directorate of Copyrights under the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism to exploit the authors’ rights (Ekici Tağa & Özdağıstanlı,
2021). This division underlines once more the pitfalls of the Law on
Intellectual and Artistic Works with respect to the video and New Media
artworks, which are not directly addressed in Article 4. All in all, a common
practice in Turkey is to certify artworks by a notary public to prove the creation
date of the works.145.
An equivalent of the “Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts”
issued by CAA in USA has not been nominated in Turkey by an independent
artistic organization, but the most prevalent defenses to copyright infringement
actions are presumably based on the principles that called for the very Code in
USA, such as the personal use or educational purposes within “freedom of
141 https://www.alifart.com/
142 https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/kelebek/kimsesiz-ressamlarin-telif-davasi-18354022
143 https://lib.kazanci.com.tr/solr/kanun/browse?q=5846+say%C4%B1l%C4%B1+fikir+ve+san
at+eserleri+kanunu++
144 The case no. 2011/208 E., 2013/277 K. ruled on December 5, 2013 by the Supreme Court is
between a photographer whose services were hired as a wedding photographer and the clients
who objected his watermark on pictures, which he defended on the grounds of Article 45.
However, it is evident that the case is not exemplary for the research in question, on the basis
of the argument that the photographs taken with the intent of documenting a wedding differ
essentially from those that are created for artistic purposes solely.
See: https://lib.kazanci.com.tr/kho3/ibb/files/hgk-2017-11-134.htm
145 https://thelawreviews.co.uk/title/the-intellectual-property-review/turkey
6 1
quotations”146, which are grouped as “Limitations” by the Articles 30-38 of
Law No. 5846. At any rate, the same law covers the civil and criminal actions
against the infringement of moral and economic rights attached to the artworks
by virtue of Articles 66-75.
A last but not least important topic in comparison with the international norms
explained in Chapter 2, concerns the artists’ wills and the issue of intestacy in
Turkey. The conditions of writing up a will and/or codicils are consistent with
the standards in the West. The law of succession in Turkey is based on a
parental system, which respectively imply that the estate of a deceased person
without a will would be distributed among their next of kin, that is their
descendants; if not alive, then their parents and their other descendants; if not
alive either, then their grandparents and their descendants and if none of the
above exists, the Turkish state.
As for the management of estates pursuant to wills, Trust model is not
available under the Turkish legal system but the visual artists may express their
intention to establish a legal entity by allocating their assets or a portion of
their estate to a foundation they wish to be set up through their wills, hence a
testamentary disposition.
On the other hand, Artist Pension Trust advised by curators and art
professionals like Vasıf Kortun and November Paynter to provide financial
security for artists has engaged several artists from Turkey in 2000s. When the
pension fund required the artists to pay for their storage in 2017, as explained
in Chapter 2.2.4., certain company managers and advising professionals,
including Kortun have penned a public letter, expressing their “deep
disappointment.” Although the works of these artists are still in the APT
146 Idem.
6 2
Collection147, the system seemed to have failed to provide a solution for the
financial precarity of visual artists, in their lifetime.
As for the afterlife phase, if the artist designates a foundation as heir, and
allocates assets to it, the respective foundation also becomes responsible for the
debts and revenues of the estate. If there is no such request to establish a
foundation, the executors appointed by the artists, distribute the remainder of
the estate among the heirs and/or beneficiaries according to the will, after
paying any debts of the estate. Should a conflict arise about the administration
of the will, an heir may file a claim in court and raise an objection, and may
request an official inventory148 (Mavioğlu, 2010).
An arresting case of artists’ wills in the recent years has revolved around the
Tiraje Dikmen Estate in Turkey: Dikmen149, who has also inherited the estate
of the French artist and academician Léopold Lévy, and interestingly enough,
has inventoried150 all his works to pay homage to her late professor herself, has
drawn up her will back in 1970 at the Beyoğlu Notary No. 8151, given she had
no other family than her estranged sister, painter Şükriye Dikmen. Leaving a
significant number of real property in Istanbul, her studio apartment in Paris,
her cash in her bank accounts as well as her mansion with all her artwork and
147 Artists from Turkey, including İnci Eviner, Nevin Aladağ, Can Altay, Cevdet Erek, Köken
Ergun, Ali Kazma, Gülsün Karamustafa, and Ahmet Öğüt have also donated works to the ATP
Collection. See: http://aptglobal.org/en/Collection/Search/6/183/size_size_units-in
148 A legal example was the case of the late painter Ömer Uluç’s inheritance, which became a
ground of conflict between the artist’s daughter Elfe Uluç and his second wife Vivet Kanetti.
Elfe Uluç has objected the share of Kanetti, filing a lawsuit at Beyoğlu 2nd Court of Peace for
the establishment of artist’s properties. See: http://www.gazetevatan.com/ressamin-mirasimahkemelik-
434204-gundem/
149 Born in 1925 in Büyükada, Istanbul, Tiraje Dikmen has been raised amidst an artistic milieu
due to her families close connections to the intelligentsia in Turkey. After completing her
graduate and post-graduate studies at the School of Economics at Istanbul University, she
attended the classes of Léopold Lévy at the State Academy of Fine Arts of Istanbul between
1943-1948. She then moved to Paris in 1949 with the scholarship awarded by the French
government, and resided at the Parisian studio of Lévy until 1980s. Although she has never
shut down her studio in Paris, she settled in the mansion in Büyükada, where she was born and
continued living there until her transfer to the Adora nursing home in 2012, where she passed
away on September 1, 2014.
150 https://www.e-skop.com/skopbulten/turk-modernistler-tiraje-dikmen/1872
151 https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/ihsan-yilmaz/iste-tiraje-dikmenin-vasiyeti-41584965
6 3
personal collection to the Istanbul University, Dikmen has stipulated clearly in
her will that the university is to liquidate her assets and set up an institution
which would fund the higher education of students in financial need. Upon her
death, Dikmen’s attorney152 has taken action by court decision to establish an
official inventory of the estate at the mansion of Büyükada, and has handed
over the inventory along with the expertise reports to the court.153
Despite the meticulous approach of the artist, her estate was neglected and her
mansion in Büyükada was locked up and left to the care of a security guard
whose salary was not paid154, resulting in the dereliction of her properties. In
spite of their public statement,155 Istanbul University’s failure of fiduciary
duties towards the estate holdings and Dikmen’s legacy became all the more
apparent, when the documents from the artist’s personal archive, including
journals and photographs had curiously appeared156 at several auctions on July
2020, which were withdrawn from the respective sales with the endeavors of
Istanbul Islands’ Association for the Protection of Cultural and Natural
Properties157 (İAKTVKD). In the meanwhile, the case was taken to magistrates
152 An exceedingly detailed report on the legal process of the inheritance by Dikmen’s attorney,
Cengiz Akıncı, had appeared on the local gazette of Prince Islands, Adalar Postası. See:
https://adalarpostasi.com/2020/08/24/3002/
153 Idem.
154 An article on T24 discussed the issue and stated that her mansion, housing the artist’s
personal property should have been turned into a museum. See: https://t24.com.tr/haber/ihsanyilmaz-
tiraje-dikmen-in-muze-olmasi-gereken-esyasinin-korundugu-evi-olumunden-berisahipsiz,
895049
155 The university has posted a statement, expressing that the artist’s estate is now at the court:
https://www.istanbul.edu.tr/tr/duyuru/kamuoyu-aciklamasi-
420066006D004E0076004F005400790046007700580039007900700046006200610041004F0
03200370077003200
156 The auction house, Artium Modern has attempted to sell a lot composed of 8 personal
diaries of Dikmen, which were later withdrawn from the auction, however their provenance is
highly obscure. Another sales were organized by Moda Müzayede and Pera Mezat, which
included personal correspondence and even school report cards of the artist
https://www.artiummodern.com/urun/2457365/tiraje-dikmen-tiraje-dikmen-e-ait-8-adetgunluk-
imzali-1945-46-yillari; https://www.modamuzayede.com/urun/1972565/efemeraressam-
tiraje-dikmen-den-ressam-sukriye-dikmen-e-gonderilmis-kartpostal;
https://www.peramezat.com/urun/turk-resim-sanati-ressam-tiraje-dikmen-e-ait-karne-yeniturkiye-
mektebi-1934-1935
157 Art historian Nergis Abıyeva accounts for the case in her article: https://argonotlar.com/iyiki-
dogdun-iyi-ki-urettin-tiraje/
6 4
of the Court in Büyükada and the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University was
appointed as the “yediemin” (trustees) of the estate, as attested by the
University’s statement on August 14, 2020158.
Dikmen’s artworks and personal collection including Léopold Lévy’s159 works
are thus now under the protection of the Mimar Sinan University; the whole
case surrounding the artist’s estate, howbeit her clear written instructions by
force of her will and the involvement of cardinal institutions in Turkey, is still
an exemplary case for the stewardship of artistic legacies and their heritage at
stake.
3.3. EXAMPLES OF LEGACY STEWARDSHIP
The artist estates and the legacies they represent may be safeguarded and
promoted by different modalities as explained in Chapter 2. In the following
sections of the thesis, I will try to exemplify the experiences of living and
deceased artists, the CR projects consecrated to certain names, as well as the
ventures of institutional establishments to determine their objectives and
struggles. Given the emphasis laid on the conservatorship of artistic legacies,
the auction houses whose operations indicate more commercial interest in
Turkey, are not surveyed as stakeholders.
3.3.1. Estates of Living Artists: Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye and Mehmet Güleryüz
With a career in contemporary ceramics that spans over half a century, Alev
Ebüzziya Siesbye160 speaks about the concept of time in several interviews.161
158 https://twitter.com/msgsuniversite/status/1294311293575454720
159 French painter and academician Léopold Lévy (1882-1966) was invited by the Turkish
Republic in 1937 to direct and restructure Department of Painting at the Fine Arts Academy in
Istanbul, where he taught until 1949.
160 Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye (1938 - ) is a Turkish-Danish ceramic artist, who has a prolific
international career in contemporary ceramics. After studying at the Istanbul Academy of Fine
Arts and Füreya’s Studio between 1956-1958, she worked in ceramic factories in Höhr6
5
The artist, who considers the Mesopotamian and Anatolian heritage among her
sources of inspiration, tells that these artifacts go beyond their time, like “a
carnation that passes from hand to hand” referring to poet, Edip Cansever.162
Enlarging upon her work, she often talks about “trying not to forget”, which
makes it imperative to understand how her own estate is organized.
Alev states163 that she has a systematic inventory in place, where her oeuvre
including the images, captions as well as the copyright and price information of
artworks are registered; adding that her galleries in Turkey and Belgium keep
these along with their provenance records, and that she is not personally
making use of any software inventory systems for such purposes. As with most
artists who have such a long career, her inventory has evolved with an overall
focus, meaning the exhibition history or the bibliography are not recorded
specifically for each work.
Correspondingly, there have not been any CR projects on Alev to this day;
however she has several monographs, including the book published by Galeri
Nev Istanbul in 2016 with the sponsorship of Finansbank, which presents a
compilation of her works ranging from 1971 to 2015. The artist and her
gallery, who also stores her works, make her archive available for scholarly
research. On the other hand, there are currently no provisions for the future in
terms of legating or institutionalizing her estate under a foundation or a
museum, and she states that she is not considering donating her estate. When
asked whether she has ever issued a document stipulating her wishes and
conditions, which would serve as a guide for the future conservators of her
Grenzhausen in Germany, the Eczacıbaşı Ceramic Factories in Istanbul and the Royal
Copenhagen factories in Denmark. Although she continued to work as a ceramic designer for
Rosenthal AG between 1975-1990 and for Royal Copenhagen between 1984-2000, she began
her independent studio practices in 1969. Currently she is residing and pursuing her studio in
Paris, where she settled in 1987.
161 Akbank Sanat Konuşmaları: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CoMsqou-oA
162 “Zaman, Tekrar ve Ellerin Düşleri Üzerine Bir Sohbet”, Serra Yentürk, QP Women
Türkiye, no.2, Fall/Winter 2018
163 From the e-mail correspondence with the artist, on November 2020.
6 6
work, she imparts that no such preparation has yet been made but that she gets
legal counseling for her economic and moral rights.
Another accomplished artist is Mehmet Güleryüz164 whose estate presents
similar characteristics and issues in terms of inventory. A distinct aspect
regarding the management of his estate is that his son, Kerimcan Güleryüz is
an art professional with over 30 years of experience in the field, who says that
he was “indoctrinated” by his father from a very early age for his position in
the estate165. His involvement connotes that the fiduciary duties towards the
artist are carried out with prudence and loyalty, potentially generations after his
demise and facilitates sorting the assets as explained in the first chapter.
Kerimcan Güleryüz gives the metaphor of a “house on fire” and explains that
in certain periods of his lifetime, his father has taken some abrupt decisions and
left behind significant groups of works, which he describes with the analogy of
“time capsules”; some of these were later recovered with their joint efforts as
family. He tells that it was almost like his father wanted to leave these works to
their fate, perhaps unconsciously for posthumous discoveries, as it happens
with most prolific artists in the history. The fact that the artist has moved his
domicile between France, Belgium and USA from 1970s onward, storing some
of his works and belongings in diverse storage spaces; gifting or lending them
to his friends for certain projects, which were later forgotten about, also
contributed to the disintegration of his oeuvre and to some deficiencies in his
164 Turkish painter, sculptor and actor Mehmet Güleryüz (1938 - ) entered The Istanbul State
Academy of Fine Arts and studied in the Department of Painting between 1958-1966. He
trained in Paris between 1970-1975 with the state scholarship, where he had several solo
exhibitions. Upon his return to Turkey, he taught at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts
before settling in New York in 1980. The artists lived and worked in Turkey within the period
of 1985-2000 and had been elected as the President of the Turkish Fine Arts Association. The
2000’s have seen a series of exhibitions including major retrospective shows. Güleryüz
currently lives and works between Istanbul and Paris.
165 From the virtual interview with Kerimcan Güleryüz on May 15, 2021.
6 7
inventory166. But the most jarring experience for the estate had been the
disappearance of all sculptural works that were consigned to Galerie 2016 for
an exhibition in 1987.167
Despite these imperfections, Mehmet Güleryüz has been diligent to keep his
works and archive in order, especially towards the end of 1980’s because, as
Kerimcan Güleryüz emphasizes, he was aware of the value of his works and
his legacy. The retrospective exhibition of the artist at the Atatürk Cultural
Center in 1987 laid the base for indexing his works in a more professional way.
But it was only around 2008 that the estate adopted a structure that provided
certificates of authenticity; so their indexing of works 168 continues also
retroactively. Incidentally, the estate does not rely on a digital inventory
software, rather treats the official website169 as one that is transparent for
public, but with limited content. For anything else, the estate makes its records
and archive available for institutions or scholars with relevant purposes.
When asked about whether the estate is planning to convert into a more
institutionalized body, Kerimcan Güleryüz explains that they were committed
to the idea and had looked into establishing a foundation with their lawyers, but
that they have postponed their plans to become a legal entity until a more
reliable cultural and political environment is materialized. However, the estate
is keen on supporting the creative endeavors with or without the label of a
foundation: they engage with a younger artistic community since 2011 through
the philanthropic program, “Mehmet Güleryüz Notebook Project,” whose
provision of the artistic material and prizes are completely financed by the
166 Kerimcan Güleryüz discloses that, for instance, some works sold to Yahşi Baraz in the late
1980’s were not photographed or documented; or the works on paper produced for Galeri
Artist from mid to late 1990’s were only partially documented. Ibid.
167 Kerimcan Güleryüz tells that the Gallery 2016 has vanished and that they could never find a
contact person ever again. The sculpture works are still lost. Ibid.
168 The inventory goes as back as 1957 and includes the most recent works Güleryüz has
completed this year.
169 The official webpage of Mehmet Güleryüz contains 1671 works as of July 2021. For details,
see: http://www.mehmetguleryuz.com/works.php?lc=en
6 8
estate.170 If we return to the evaluation of De Oliveira, quoted in Chapter 2.2.5,
this venture is a prime example of co-authorship that impacts a wider cultural
landscape while exalting the artist’s legacy.
There are several important books published on the oeuvre of Güleryüz, such
as the “Drawings: 1963-1994” 171 and the retrospective book “Mehmet
Güleryüz: 1958-2008”.172 Bringing together various ingredients of the personal
archive 173 and anecdotes, the memoire “Güldüğüme Bakma” 174 however,
bespeaks that Mehmet Güleryüz has clearly made an attempt to leave a “living
legacy” because he has chosen to put his own (oral) history on record. On that
account, the estate considers the audiovisual documents of his interviews, talks
and discussions as an essential part of their archive and intends to collect these
records as much as possible.
As for the CR, Kerimcan Güleryüz reflects that it is very necessary but not
feasible without any institutional support right now, because they already have
multiple fields of operation to maintain and to promote the estate. He adds that
in Turkey, there are “gatekeepers” in the art institutions who tend to be very
selective, and that de facto discourse insinuates that any artist who’s not
endorsed by these institutions has to undertake their projects themselves. In
that context, Güleryüz regards SALT Research as the most and perhaps the
only creditworthy institution for digitizing their archive. However he states that
170 For detailed information: http://www.mehmetguleryuz.com/news.php?p=5075&lc=en
171 "Mehmet Güleryüz, Desenler 1963-1994". Canan Beykal, Turkish/English, Translated by:
Deniz Şengel, Gallery Nev, İstanbul, 1994.
172 "Mehmet Güleryüz: 1958-2008". Wendy M.K. Shaw, English/Turkish, Translated by: Deniz
Arslan, İş Sanat Culture Center, "Kibele" Art Gallery, İstanbul, 2009
173 A good part of the personal archive including letters and photographs of Güleryüz was
digitized for this book project, consequently Güleryüz does not feel the urgency to hypermanage
all archival materials at this point, but they are safeguarded nonetheless.
174 "Mehmet Güleryüz Kitabı, Güldüğüme Bakma". Söyleşi: Ayşegül Sönmezay, Turkish,
Türkiye İş Bankası Culture Publishing (Second Publishing), Nehir Söyleşiler Series, Istanbul,
2015
6 9
the institution did not approach the estate and that Mehmet Güleryüz is keen on
conserving his estate as a whole rather than making institutional donations.175
3.3.2. Estates of Deceased Artists: Cengiz Çekil
A pioneer in the conceptual art in Turkey, the estate of Cengiz Çekil176 is an
illustrative one in terms of the institutional sustenance it garnered in the last
decennia of his life. Despite the crucial role he played in shaping the
contemporary art after 1970’s in Turkey, Çekil personally has rarely
considered safeguarding his artworks, keeping their inventory or his archive
orderly for his own interests. In fact, in the early periods of his career he gifted
some of his works, which were coincidentally found or discovered years later
when the family members paid visits to his friends.177
Erden Kosova178 considers his relocation between different cities since 1970s
and his modest living conditions as influential factors for this disposition. He
adds that none of his works from his Paris period has survived physically, such
that most of his works were reproduced for his quasi-retrospective exhibition at
the now-defunct Rampa gallery (Altuğ, 2020).
The same interview179 informs us that Çekil has become somewhat more
attentive of his works and his archive as per the pedagogical objectives he has
175 Aziz Nesin Foundation, which was considered as a congenial structure for the estate had
approached Mehmet Güleryüz in the past, but Güleryüz had digressed from that idea. Also
looking back on the examples of Istanbul Modern and Santralistanbul, Kerimcan Güleryüz says
that do not consider donations right now. From the virtual interview on May 15, 2021.
176 Cengiz Çekil (1945-2015) is a Turkish artist and academician. Following his graduation
from the Arts-Crafts Department at the Gazi Education Institute in Ankara, he studied sculpture
at the Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts from 1970 to 1975. After his return to Turkey,
he worked briefly at the Istanbul Atatürk Education Institute as compulsory service in return
for his scholarship, before settling in Izmir in 1978 where he spent the rest of his life, working
successively at the Ege and Dokuz Eylül universities. Çekil has also served as the dean of the
Faculty of Fine Arts department of the Dokuz Eylül University between 2004-2007 before
retiring in 2007.
177 From the interview conducted with Çekil’s daughter, Eda Çekil on April 27, 2021.
178 Writer, art critic and theorist.
179 https://acikradyo.com.tr/yolgecen/cengiz-cekil-21081945-10112015-hakkinda-bir-soylesi
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set during his tenure at the Dokuz Eylül University: Ezgi Arıduru notes that he
has kept increasingly more works, personal ephemera and archival documents,
like his lecture notes, the negatives from the exhibitions he participated and
personal notebooks containing drawings and anecdotes, in the room allocated
to him at the faculty. Another positive aspect of having this space on the
campus was the presence of his then-assistant Sevgi Avcı who has diligently
helped putting his works and archive together, creating the base for Çekil’s
oeuvre and archive.180
After his retirement from the university in 2007, Çekil has moved most of his
room’s contents to his studio in Tarabya, Istanbul. When Rampa Gallery has
begun representing the artist in 2010, his works were inventoried and have
been moved to the Gallery’s storage, leaving only his archival and artistic
material in the studio.181
This period of gallery representation in his final decade is utterly significant182
given it marked two of the most substantial projects regarding Çekil’s estate:
Between 2012 and 2013, Çekil’s archive183 was digitized and made public with
the collaboration of SALT Research under the artist’s supervision and
guidance. Secondly, right before the artist’s passing in 2015, Rampa has
initiated and conducted the artist’s monograph. Although the project came to a
halt when Rampa closed down in 2017, it was eventually assigned to SALT in
2019 with Çekil family’s consent, under the patronage of gallery’s co-founder,
Leyla Tara Suyabatmaz and the book was published in 2020.184
180 https://acikradyo.com.tr/yolgecen/cengiz-cekil-21081945-10112015-hakkinda-bir-soylesi
181 From the interview conducted with Çekil’s daughter, Eda Çekil on April 27, 2021.
182 It must be noted that Çekil’s politically charged and poignant work, “Diary” from 1976 was
included in the permanent collection of MoMA a year after the artist’s initial exhibition at
Rampa. The exhibition was curated by Vasıf Kortun; who knew Çekil personally since 2001,
and who served as the founding director of SALT between 2011-2017.
183 https://archives.saltresearch.org/handle/123456789/660
184 Cengiz Çekil: 21.08.1945-10.11.2015, 2020. Editors: Ezgi Arıduru and Merve Elveren,
SALT / Garanti Kültür AŞ Publications, Istanbul.
7 1
Going back to the principles laid out in Chapter 2.1.2., Cengiz Çekil’s case
affirms that archival work lends countenance to scholarly research; it has
indeed consolidated the art historical discourse of the book and helped to put
the artist back on the map through museum exhibitions185 which enhanced his
visibility.
The closure of the gallery in 2017 was another turning point for the estate. That
same year, Rampa’s former gallery director Esra Sarıgedik Öktem has founded
BüroSarıgedik in order to foster a more intimate model of artist
representation186 outside of the gallery concept and signed Cengiz Çekil in
BüroSarıgedik’s roaster on the account of their long-standing collaboration.
Accordingly, all his remaining works as well as his archive directly relating to
his work were transferred along with their inventory to Sarıgedik187, who now
safeguards these assets and coordinates the projects of the estate.
The critical fact that Çekil’s daughter, artist Eda Çekil is also represented by
Sarıgedik suggests the notion of confidence and more importantly, allows a
cross-generational perspective for the art historical narrative of both artists.
In spite of these major projects, which contributed tremendously for conveying
the artist’s legacy to future generations and relieved the family from certain
conscientious responsibilities, the estate work is hardly conclusive. Eda Çekil
tells that after her father’s passing in 2015, they have emptied his studio in
Istanbul and that she currently is keeping Çekil’s personal archive in boxes at
her apartment. She expresses that as much as she likes to hold on to these
materials as an emotional reflex, it is only possible to protect them for a
foreseeable future, and expresses her concerns about the uncertainty after her
185 ARTER’s exhibition “What Time Is It?” (13.09.2019-26.07.2020) was titled after Çekil’s
work; the show has included his eponymous work. Artist’s daughter confirmed that the same
institution is currently working on a solo exhibition of the artist, which will be curated by Eda
Berkmen.
186 https://www.unlimitedrag.com/post/bir-sanatci-temsili-modeli-burosarigedik
187 Esra Sarıgedik Öktem could not make time for an interview due to the restrictions imposed
by the lockdown during pandemics.
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lifetime, given she does not have the means to establish a foundation
singlehandedly at this point in time.
Eda Çekil imparts another striking information regarding the lack of
understanding around legacy conservation: After his retirement, Çekil’s room
on the Dokuz Eylül University campus was given over to other professors of
the faculty, who tried to preserve the memory of Çekil in this space, since the
majority were his students. In 2019, the building that houses the Faculty of
Fine Arts was declared188 as not earthquake-resistant and the faculty members
were given sacks to carry their belongings.
Considering this situation, Eda Çekil takes comfort that they had not donated
any work to the faculty, yet tells that the whereabouts of the articles he left
behind as memorabilia is not yet known.
3.3.3. Catalogue Raisonné: Fikret Muallâ and Semiha Berksoy
The life and work of the Turkish painter, Fikret Muallâ189 represents one of the
most extraordinary cases in the art history of Turkey, not because Muallâ was
merely a “solitary and wounded, bohemian” artist figure, as repeatedly
overemphasized by the mainstream narrative (Demir, 2020), but because he has
188 https://m.bianet.org/bianet/genclik/209893-dokuz-eylul-universitesi-guzel-sanatlar-tasiniyor
189 Fikret Muallâ Saygı (1903-1967), also written as “Moualla” in French resources, has left for
Switzerland to become an engineer at the tender age of 16 when his father remarried upon the
death of both her mother and grandmother because of the Spanish flu. He settled in Berlin to
study at the Beaux-Arts, where he lived between 1920-1926. In 1927, he returned to Turkey
and taught art classes at his alma mater, Galatasaray High School. In 1932 he briefly worked as
a decorator for the Istanbul Municipality theaters and opened his first exhibition in Istanbul in
1934, before he was involved in a fight, after which he decided in 1937 to be hospitalized at
Bakırköy Psychiatric Hospital instead of serving time. After losing his father, Muallâ decided
to move to Paris in 1938. After fourteen years of artistic career, Mualla was admitted into
Sainte Anne Hospital in 1953 where he stayed about three years. Despite his mental and
physical struggles, Muallâ has opened several exhibitions in France and has been noticed by
the art dealer Fernand Angles in 1959, who sustained and promoted the artist until the end of
his life in 1967.
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led an utterly stringent and dispersed artistic life, and gained an incredible
recognition for his art nonetheless.
Prepared by Kerem Topuz190 and Marc Ottavi,191 and published on August
2019, Fikret Muallâ’s Catalogue Raisonné192 is the product193 of an extensive
and meticulous work that took two decades to bring precisely 2.452 artworks
together, which entailed scrutinizing collections, surveying galleries and
auction houses and studying every publication and exhibition catalogue that
centered on the artist.194 In the last paragraph of the CR’s preface, Topuz writes
that the publication is the “manifestation of an homage that should have been
paid long ago to the artist,” and that it intends to prevent the forgeries195, which
“crown the artist’s success in fraudulent ways and damage his legacy” (Ottavi
& Topuz, 2019)
The nomenclature of works in the CR is chronological196; for each year, the
themes of the artworks follow the same order: drawings, exterior scenes,
interior scenes, bars, games, musicians, portraits, nudes, animals, still lives,
landscapes and seascapes, abstractions and others. However, as the artists have
periodically felt inclined towards certain themes, the rates of these themes vary
from year to year. All known records of sales are provided under the works’
190 Translator and researcher Kerem Topuz (1955 - ) had a close connection with the artist
owing to his father, veteran journalist and writer Hıfzı Topuz (1923 -), who remained close
friends with Muallâ until the artist’s death. Hıfzı Topuz had previously published a book on the
artist called “Fikret Moualla, Anatomie d’Un Bohéme: Oeuvres, Temoignages, Anecdotes et
Souvenirs,” which laid the basis for Kerem Topuz’s research.
191 Working as an expert for auction houses over 25 years in Paris, Ottawi has participated in
the Garrigou Estate Sale in 2001, which included about hundred works by Muallâ. He has been
working on the inventory and archive on Muallâ ever since.
192 Although Muallâ has lived mostly abroad, I considered this CR among the cases of my
research because it was intended to illuminate the practice in Turkey, given it was prepared in
both French and Turkish.
193 The publication is the first volume of the CR, the second volume is under way.
194 From the Zoom meeting organized by Topuz and Ottavi on December 21, 2020.
195 Although Topuz and Ottavi has presented couple of examples of fake Muallâs during their
Zoom presentation on December 21, 2020, they have not included these in the CR and
presented only the works they were sure of.
196 A particular group of gouache works, which have never been published or exhibited
publicly before, are kept together as a collection outside of this chronological order and are
signaled with a yellow band on top of the page with the inscription “private collection.”
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captions that include medium, dimensions, date and signature information, and
provenance, but neither the bibliographical references nor the exhibition
history of works are included.
An important aspect of Muallâ’s career underlined by this CR is that the artist’s
works before 1950, especially those created until 1938 prior to the artist’s
settlement in Paris are not very well archived due to several relocations
between countries and cities, diverse occupations and his declining mental
health, which is why the works of these periods are grouped simply under
“Turkey Period before 1938” and “French Period 1939-1950” without any
further ordination.
The early years in France, which clearly bear the mark of Académie de la
Grande Chaumière, where he was trained under André Lhote and Othon
Friesz, have also introduced Mualla to the “maisons closes” (brothels) with the
start of the Second World War and later, the café society of Paris. Muallâ who
started to frequent the famous Montparnasse institutions, such as Le Select, La
Coupole, La Rotonde, Le Dôme, and La Closerie des Lilas, have surrendered a
great deal of his paintings in these cafés in exchange for supper and drinks,
which ended up in the trash since his works were not deemed worthy yet.
Muallâ had eventually caught the eyes of Parisian dealers in the 50’s, however
he had not respected the exclusivity of the galleries, selling his works cheaper
than the gallery prices to be able to pay for his room.197 The hospitalization at
Sainte Anne Hospital twice between 1953-1956 closes this turbulent chapter,
but to the expense of his archive and drawings in crayon and pencil, which
were stolen with their folders. 198 This anecdote clearly demonstrates the
vulnerability of the artist figure under challenging conditions and the potential
lapse in their legacy, if their respective artistic assets are not safeguarded.
197 From the Zoom meeting organized by Topuz and Ottavi on December 21, 2020.
198 Idem.
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In the period after 1960’s, Muallâ had been supported by Louis Lhermine as
well as Fernand Anglès and Madame Anglès (Ottavi & Topuz, 2019); through
their compassionate patronage, the artist had achieved a regular pace of
production, which is proven by the 364 gouache works on paper that he had
completed in just seven years despite his illnesses. Therefore, it is possible to
consider this publication and its authors, which re-contextualize the artist’s
legacy, incorporate the posthumous findings and provide a reference for the
authenticity of his oeuvre, as a form of stewardship.
Another CR published in Turkey addresses the life and the works of Semiha
Berksoy199, who is recognized as a multi-faceted artist or, in Dieter Ronte’s
words, as “a total work of art.”200 Although presented as a Catalogue Raisonné,
the publication differs fairly from the usual format. Published by Galerist
Publications with the sponsorship of Odeabank in 2017, Berksoy’s CR presents
all the accessible works of the artist, precisely 570 works, including her earliest
sketches from childhood years and those created at the Fine Arts Academy.
Since Berksoy had a spontaneous and autodidact way of working, the artworks
have not been grouped under themes or mediums but are presented in a more or
less chronological order. However, the captions of her works do not mention
any information regarding provenance, exhibition history or bibliographical
references.
199 Much like Fikret Muallâ, Semiha Berksoy (1910 – 2004), who was born in Istanbul, lost her
mother at the young age of 7. She studied at the Istanbul Municipality Conservatory in 1928-
1929 and at the Academy of Fine Arts, Namık İsmail, Refik Epikman and İsmail Hakkı Toygar
studios (1929-1930). She starred in several theatrical productions with Muhsin Ertuğrul before
becoming the Prima Donna of the Süreyya Opera in 1933. In 1936 she won the European
competition of the Ankara State Conservatory and was accepted to the Berlin Music Academy
Department of Opera. Completing her education in 1939, right after the proclamation of the
Republic, she became the first professional opera singer in Turkey. After 30 years on opera
stages, she held a painting exhibition in Ankara Language and History Faculty in 1961 and
continued painting for the rest of her life. Semiha Berksoy, who was awarded the title of State
Artist in 1998, participated in numerous institutional exhibitions and biennials including the 5th
Istanbul Biennial (1997), Manifesta II (1998), Bonn Kunstmuseum and Vienna Kunstmuseum
(2000), the retrospective exhibition at İş Sanat Kibele Art Gallery (2003), the 51st Venice
Biennale (2005), Martin Gropius Bau (2009), Shanghai Biennale (2012) among others.
200 Dieter Ronte is a German art historian and the former director of Kunstmuseum Bonn. He
was quoted in Zeliha Berksoy’s article included in the CR.
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In contrast, the publication includes remarkable texts by the artist’s daughter,
Zeliha Berksoy as well as Levent Çalıkoğlu, Ferit Edgü, Dikmen Gürün, Beral
Madra, Rosa Martinez, Dieter Ronte, Robert Wilson and Derya Yücel, and
contain substantial insight for the evolution of Berksoy’s works, and thus are
helpful for the interpretation of her creative psyche and re-contextualizing her
legacy.
According to Yücel, who had taken on the position of editor for the CR, the
project was initiated by the artist’s gallery, Galerist with the intention of
producing a comprehensive book on the artist. (Şenliler, 2017) The intent in
question may be considered as the rationale behind the publication’s format,
which approximates to a monograph rather than a CR, given it fails to submit
certain factual information like the provenance, the exhibition history and
bibliographical references for the artwork entries in the catalogue. More
notably, Galerist’s involvement in the project appears as unusual when ICRA’s
(International Catalogue Raisonné Association) doctrine, “the authors or
editors should ideally have no financial interest in the works being catalogued”
201 is considered. However, it may be argued that Galerist has remained within
the ethical lines given they supervised the project together with the Semiha
Berksoy Opera Foundation presided by Zeliha Berksoy. Likewise, the gallery
has treated the publication as a means to enrich the artist’s legacy on an
international level beyond financial expectations, as will be explained in the
next chapter.
3.3.4. Commercial Galleries: Galerist and Galeri Nev
One of the leading and longest running establishments in the art market in
Turkey is Galeri Nev, which was founded in 1984 by Ali Artun and Haldun
201 https://icra.art/about/catalogue-raisonne/what-is-a-catalogue-raisonne
7 7
Dostoğlu in Ankara.202 The inaugural exhibition of Galeri Nev was consecrated
to the drawings of the artist Abidin Dino,203 whose on-going representation by
the gallery after 37 years suggests a strong commitment for the stewardship of
artists’ legacy.
That said, Dino’s case is very telling about the challenges of managing estates
in Turkey: director of the Ankara Galeri Nev, Deniz Artun explains204 that
Dino himself has proposed to make editions out of his drawings and has
assigned the economic rights of “Hand” series to Galeri Nev in his lifetime,
because he had intended for these works to be affordable for anyone who
wished to own them, regardless of their social or economic status. When the
gallery set out to reproduce the series for the 10th year commemoration of
Dino’s demise, the artist’s wife, scholar and writer Güzin Dino was informed
of the project, even though the Gallery had the rights to the works. Despite the
Gallery’s attention and care, Artun expresses that after Güzin Dino’s passing
away in 2013, many works from the series were lost amid the quarrels between
the estate’s so-called heirs, and some of these works, the economic rights of
which belong to the gallery, now appear on the glassware commercially
produced by Paşabahçe.205 As the heirs of Dino’s could not be determined by
court, the gallery cannot find any other parties to take legal action with.206
202 Today the Galeri Nev in Ankara is a separate gallery under the direction of Deniz Artun,
whereas Galeri Nev İstanbul continues its operations under Haldun Dostoğlu’s direction in
Istanbul, where the gallery opened its first space in 1987.
203 Turkish multi-disciplinary artist, filmmaker and stage designer Abidin Dino (1913-1993) is
among the founders of “d Group”. After working in the Soviet Union for several film projects,
Dino settled in Paris in 1937 and joined in the artistic circles frequented by Gertrude Stein,
Pablo Picasso and Andre Malraux. In 1939 he returned to Turkey and found the “Yeniler
Grubu” before he was exiled to Anatolia for his political thoughts. In 1952 he settled in Paris
for good where his work was included in the Musée de l’Art Moderne de la Ville collection
and the French Association of Plastic Arts (UNAP) collection of which he became the
honorary chairman in 1979. His first solo exhibition in Turkey was held in 1964 at Gallery 1 in
Istanbul but his professional gallery representation was with Galeri Nev in 1984 in Ankara.
204 From the virtual interview with Deniz Artun on May 27, 2021.
205 https://www.pasabahcemagazalari.com/sofra/bardaklar/bardak-setleri/abidin-dino-sarapbardagi-
2-li-set/u-10006087-213-4712
206 Idem.
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Another major problem in Dino’s estate concerns the inventory of works.
Artun tells that Güzin Dino was misadvised to photocopy the drawings, which
she would consign or loan to exhibitions and galleries. As the works and their
copies were not clearly marked or methodically classified and catalogued, they
had begun jumbling together in Dino’s drawers, resulting in misattributions,
which still continue today. Due to this obscurity of provenance and authenticity
problems, a CR of Abidin Dino could never been on the agenda for Galeri Nev,
however several other publications were produced over the years.207
The aforementioned case of Tiraje Dikmen Estate has been another affair of
consideration for the Gallery: Dikmen, who was the second artist that opened
an exhibition at Galeri Nev, right after Abidin Dino’s show, passed away in
2014 and her estate has been rendered completely dysfunctional due to
negligence. The plundering of artist’s house in Büyükada have been chronicled
by the artist’s former lawyer, Cengiz Akıncı in 2020208 however a more crucial
harbinger of this fate is evident in the words of Ali Artun, who strived to
organize a retrospective exhibition for the artist in her lifetime:
“We opened the exhibition of Tiraje Dikmen at the gallery in 2002; ten years
after that, I convinced Tiraje for a museum exhibition and I contacted the
managers of the Pera Museum. They too were very excited about the project,
they had several meetings at Büyükada, but right around that time, Tiraje was
placed under guardianship. And her guardians did not take any interest in the
project. The dispersed treasure on the upper floor in her house needed to be
handled by curators, who would accordingly prepare an exhibition with a proper
catalogue, but they did not care about any of that and moved Tiraje into a
nursing home.” (Abıyeva, 2020)
207 In 2018, a monograph was published by Galeri Nev Istanbul with the sponsorship of QNB
Finansbank. It is worth noting that this publication only brought together the drawings and
paintings so as to explore the artist’s identity and work as a painter, as stated by Farah Aksoy’s
preface titled “Which Abidin?” but did not specify the dates for most works and omitted the
provenance information completely.
208Published on Cengiz Akıncı’s personal Facebook account on August 16, 2020, accessed on
20 March 2021: https://www.facebook.com/1604292656/posts/10221205808807169/?d=n ;
https://www.facebook.com/1604292656/posts/10221211821397480/?d=n ;
https://www.facebook.com/1604292656/posts/10221216348510655/?d=n
7 9
As explained above in Chapter 3.2, the Mimar Sinan University was assigned
as a trustee (“yediemin”) by court and the artworks including the personal
collection of Dikmen is taken under protection by the Istanbul Museum of
Painting and Sculpture.209 Amid this ravelment, Deniz Artun expresses that the
Gallery has been literally torn between acquiring the archival materials but that
they ultimately decided to stay out of this process. Artun also adds that they
were approached by certain people who tried to exploit and capitalize on the
works they owned, and admits that they are utterly afflicted about the estate’s
current condition, since their essential mission as a gallery to promote the
research on the artist has also been nullified.
In Artun’s experience, it is much less stringent to work with artists who have
heirs, as in the cases of Mübin Orhon, Nejad Devrim and Yüksel Arslan whose
daughters Bénédicte Orhon, Veronica Devrim and Seli Arslan respectively,
have actively helped establishing an intimate, collaborative working format
between the second-generation representatives of these estates and the gallery.
However, the circumstances and framework of each liaison are as unique as the
artists themselves. For instance, Bénédicte Orhon keeps an exceedingly private
inventory of works but periodically selects and consigns new works to the
gallery; with each dispatch, she also sends an archival material210 without an
exception in order to contribute to the gallery’s archive. Conversely, the gallery
had not received any archival material from Devrim’s estate until his solo
exhibition in 2018, “Le grand mérite de Néjad, c’est d’être Néjad”,211where a
fascinating amount of archival material212 was contextualized around one
209 https://twitter.com/msgsuniversite/status/1294311293575454720
210 To illustrate how intimate such relationships are, Artun mentions that Bénédicte Orhon
always sends an archival piece to Artun’s son, Selim because Selim Turan, who was a close
friend of the Orhon is his namesake. Although Orhon specifies these as gifts for Selim Artun,
Deniz Artun adds all material to the gallery’s archive. (From the virtual interview with Deniz
Artun on May 27, 2021.)
211 https://galerinev.art/en/le-grand-merite-de-nejad-cest-detre-nejad
212 The gallery collected archival materials from the general public through an open call,
whereby the possessors of such materials about Nejad Devrim could register their documents
on the gallery’s archival database. (From the virtual interview with Deniz Artun on May 27,
2021.)
8 0
single oil painting from 1954, shedding light on the social, political and artistic
background of artist’s creative endeavor. A part of these archival materials,
bearing merely private information for the family are returned to Devrim
family, whereas some documents, which have significance in the broader
context of the artist’s practice are still kept at the gallery’s archive.
As such, in some instances, the exhibition projects necessitate an archive in the
gallery, whereas in others, existing archival materials pave the way for
exhibition and publication projects. The latter has been the case for Abidin
Dino’s “Par Avion” publication213 presenting the postal correspondences of the
artist with the poet Gülten Akın, which have been sourced from archives of
gallery and Abidin Dino Archives that was bequested to the Sakıp Sabancı
Museum by Güzin Dino.214 It is safe to say, that the artists’ archives are an
important point of departure for the gallery today, given their thematically
organized “Nev Nadir” exhibitions are born from the posthumous discoveries
in the gallery’s archive. A similar project is intended for Erol Akyavaş’s estate:
the gallery has appointed an employee to sort out Akyavaş’s archive in Istanbul
and categorized all materials in the past years, therefore has full knowledge
over the contents of this archive but has not realized a project yet.215
Yet, all things considered, Artun emphasizes that none of their collaboration
with these names mentioned above, can be regarded as a comprehensive
custody of an estate; that “the gallery merely possesses some articles bearing
mainly sentimental and personal value” they personally value instead of
consigning an exclusively profitable inventory from these artists, since the very
foundation and on-going operations of the gallery is more in line “with
213 The digital copy of the book, “Par Avion” can be found entirely online on the gallery’s
website: https://galerinev.art/storage/files/publications/par_avion.pdf
214 The SSM Abidin Dino Archive contains 594 postal correspondences, 344 documents, 335
press clippings, 269 drawings, 250 photographs, 139 articles, 92 invitations, 29 brochures in
addition to many other materials, which are all digitized by the Museum and made public
online: https://digitalssm.org/digital/collection/abidindino/search
215From the virtual interview with Deniz Artun on May 27, 2021.
8 1
romantic values, personal paradigms and informal affiliations as opposed to
professional modalities” of gallery management. In fact, the gallery omits
written agreements by and large with these artists as per their amicable
relationships,216 which conceivably jeopardizes their legal position in certain
cases like with the aforementioned Dino Estate. Furthermore, all rights still lie
with the artists’ heirs; consequently the gallery is oftentimes uninformed about
the recent activities and dealings about these artists’ works, according to Artun,
who adds that the works returned to the estates after their consignment period
may reappear elsewhere. 217
In light of this three-decennia-long gallery activity, Galeri Nev Ankara has
ventured in two main projects to contribute to the art historical discourse in
addition to the exhibitions and publications it undertakes. The first one is the
NEVARCHIVE project, which was launched in 2005. Using a library database
system, an individual archive is created for each artist who ever had an
exhibition at Galeri Nev, where their works are inventoried together with
relevant documents like letters, invitations, installation images, price lists
and/or personal photographs and resumés. In some cases, certain documents
such as faxes that show the wear and tear of time are also digitally duplicated
so as to preserve any existing information about artists. A code is assigned to
each item, and the documents in the archive are cross-referenced. This helps to
filter the archive and group the artists who are from the same generation, artists
who have been included in the same publication or exhibitions and so forth.
This archive is accessible online to the graduate students and art professionals
with the authorization granted by the gallery.218
216 During my term as a gallery manager at the Galeri Nev Istanbul, which became completely
autonomous from the Galeri Nev Ankara after 2000s, I have personally observed that a candid
affiliation between the gallery and artists, discarding official agreements was indeed the
custom of the enterprise, hence the “romantic values” that Artun mentions.
217 From the virtual interview with Deniz Artun on May 27, 2021.
218 Idem
8 2
The second project concerns the library of Galeri Nev, which had been
downsized during gallery’s move into its current address in Ankara. The
content of the library is reduced to the publications focusing on represented
artists, donating the rest, and thus creating a specialized library, which serves
everyone today. It is exceedingly important to note here that Deniz Artun
reminds that the galleries, that is to say, the gallerists are not immortal either.
So when asked whether they ever considered turning the gallery into a legal
institution, as in the example of Fondation Maeght, Artun answers that they
have indeed looked into it on the 25th anniversary of the gallery. However they
have decided to abandon the idea because Artun, who ran Galeri Nev in a
rented space, had no landed property to endow for the foundation; but more
importantly, the idea was given up based upon the mutual conviction that such
formation would have not contributed in the favor of gallery’s operations in a
sustainable way because a gallery, by its nature, requires a certain level of
liberty and “a personal touch” of its director rather than a board of managers
who would have a secondary relation to the establishment and its artists, thus
would be at odds with the fundamentally personal affiliations mentioned
above. As for the question of donating, Artun imparts that they could not even
access Bilkent University’s Art Library during the research process of Nejad
Devrim’s 2018 exhibition, despite the fact that they have donated the library
numerous publications and works over the years, including a complete set of
Erol Akyavaş’ series “Miraçname”. Such obstruction imposed by the university
library to the gallery is quite striking in terms of the deprivation of alliance
among different key players of the artistic milieu in Turkey, while the
impermanence of fidelity between these parties possibly explains why the
galleries refrain from collaborations and/or donations; both resulting in the
detriment of the very domain they constitute and mean to foster.
Founded in 2001, Galerist’s constitutive mission has been defined as
discovering and promoting younger generation of contemporary artists. As the
gallery inched its way up the ladder of seniority, together with the artists it
8 3
represented, it has begun working with more established names like Sarkis and
Nil Yalter by the 2010’s. That said, 2014 has been a seminal year for Galerist
when the gallery has included the estate of the late artist Semiha Berksoy in its
roster. In the past three years, the gallery has signed two more estates: the first
one was the late photographer, Şahin Kaygun in 2019,219 and the second was
the late artist Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin in 2020, respectively. 220 The
announcements concerning the representation of both artists have contained the
word “estate”, which may well be read as a shift in the perception of the
commercial art galleries in Turkey towards the concept.
These three estates are now managed by the gallery in cooperation with the
artists’ respective families. Among these, Semiha Berksoy is the only artist
under whose name a foundation221 is established so far. However, probably as a
result of the Foundation’s emphasis on the opera career of the artist, it is
currently Galerist who keeps the artist’s entire archive of visual art.222 It may
also be argued that the gallery is a more appropriate body for safeguarding
these assets, given they often integrate into the Fine Art works owing to
Berksoy’s particularly autobiographical manner of working.
Berksoy’s artworks, a substantial portion of which had been moved into the
warehouses of Asya Nakliyat upon her death, have been transferred to the
gallery’s storage around 2018 under the supervision of the artist’s grandson,
Oğul Aktuna. In the period of the transfer, a posthumous discovery was made,
and a series of portraits were found, which were later shown at Galerist in
2019.223 An equally crucial project was also undertaken during the storage
transfer: Galerist has inventoried all works with a file number on its Artlogic
database, where all related information regarding the provenance and loans or
219 http://www.galerist.com.tr/en/sahin-kaygun-2
220 http://www.galerist.com.tr/en/huseyin-bahri-alptekin-2
221 http://www.semihaberksoyoperavakfi.org
222 From the virtual interview with Müge Çubukçu on May 14, 2021.
223 http://www.galerist.com.tr/en/portraits
8 4
consignments is still kept up to date. As for the impact on the oeuvre’s
appraisal, the market value of Berksoy has soared after the affiliation with
Galerist, not because the gallery seized upon the estate’s cachet, but because
Berksoy has never been represented by a professional gallery before; hence the
rectification of misestimated and devalued prices.224
Müge Çubukçu who is currently the Associate Director at Galerist imparts that
the Berksoy estate reserves certain works for a prospective museum project.225
This approach implies that the legacy of the artist was also understood from the
family’s part, as in the example of Paul Klee given in Chapter 2.1.1, and by the
artist herself. Indeed, Berksoy’s recognition of death and legacy is evident in
the story of Berksoy’s magnum opus, “Bedroom” that is also known as the
“memory room”. Describing her mother, who was suffering heart attacks in
1994, Zeliha Berksoy writes: “I think she wanted to leave a great masterpiece
pertaining to her life just before departing” adding that her mother wanted to
tell “that she still has a right to live.” (Berksoy, 2017, p.60-61)
The work in question speaks for another crucial matter concerning the artist’s
estate. Semiha Berksoy’s bedroom has been donated to Mimar Sinan
University by the artist, to be shown at the Istanbul Museum of Painting and
Sculpture. Despite the news coverage226 of this bequest in 2003, Çubukçu notes
that, to the best of her knowledge, the elements of Berksoy’s bedroom had
never left the storage to be installed at the museum.227 While this situation is
linked with the bureaucratic uncertainty surrounding the museum since
224 Idem.
225 Çubukçu notes that the Ministry of Culture has allocated a space for the artist’s museum in
Galatasaray. Idem.
226 https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/amp/haber/ask-ve-sanatla-yasayan-kadin-117138
227 From the virtual interview with Müge Çubukçu on May 14, 2021.
8 5
2008,228 it is also very telling about the level of adherence to artists’ wishes in
Turkey.
As explained in the previous chapter, Galerist has published Berksoy’s CR in
2017 after a research of one year. Although this publication is the most
comprehensive monograph to date, Çubukçu notes that there are works, which
were not featured in the CR because they had been gifted by the artists back in
the day and could not be located.229All in all, the gallery has put together all
existing documentation of works and completed the CR. The English version
of the publication was sent to foreign curators, which contributed to the
gallery’s bona fide objective to put Berksoy back on the international map230 as
a visual artist. Currently, the gallery is in touch with SALT Research to digitize
the artist’s archive.
The second estate represented by Galerist is that of Şahin Kaygun,231 whose
interdisciplinary artistic career surpassed his short biological life. Kaygun has
been adamant about exploring the boundaries of photography as a medium
through the application of scratched, colored layers on his photographic works,
attaching them a uniqueness rather than reproducibility. The artist’s interview
with Ara Güler in 1984 is a noteworthy anecdote regarding his mindset about
his work and the legacy of his estate: asked whether he has a plan for the
228In June 2020, the museum’s reopening date was postponed and remains uncertain ever since:
https://www.artforum.com/news/istanbul-museum-of-painting-and-sculpture-opening-delayedagain-
83238
229 From the virtual interview with Müge Çubukçu on May 14, 2021.
230 The gallery has participated in the Abu Dhabi Art fair in 2017 with a solo booth of Berksoy,
where the CR was also presented. Omar Kholeif, who has seen the artist’s works here, included
a selection of paintings in the 14th Sharjah Biennial in 2019. Curators Bettina Steinbrügge and
Nicholas Tammens, who have seen the works at Sharjah Biennial, included artist’s works in
the exhibition “Carnivalesca, What Painting Might Be” at Kunstverein Hamburg in 2021.
Likewise, the gallery showed the artist’s works at Frieze Masters in 2018, through which the
artist’s work was included in “The Moon” exhibition at Grand Palais, Paris in 2019.
231 Şahin Kaygun (1951-1992), Turkish photography artist. He studied graphic arts at the State
University of Applied Fine Arts in Istanbul, during which he developed an artistic interest in
photography. He attended the Salzburg Summer Academy in 1980. He opened only three solo
exhibitions in his lifetime but was recognized for his use of Polaroids. The artist has died in
1992, aged 41.
8 6
safeguarding and promoting his oeuvre in the posthumous phase, Kaygun tells
that he has no information or assurance for the future of his works, adding that
he doesn’t consider this organization as his job; he only assumes the task of
creating his art and that he cannot prevent it if all his work is set on fire after he
dies. (Güler, 2018, p. 280)
Fortunately, this has not been the case with Kaygun’s estate. Although his
work had been away from the public eye for two decades after his passing, the
early 2010’s have been a turning point for his visibility. Now-defunct Elipsis
Gallery began representing the estate and opened his solo exhibition in 2013,
which was followed by the first retrospective on the artist at Istanbul Modern
Museum in 2014.232 After Elipsis terminated its activities in 2014, Kaygun’s
work was managed exclusively by the artist’s daughter Burçak Kaygun, until
Galerist’s involvement in 2019. Emphasizing the progressive nature of
relations between artist families and galleries, Çubukçu reminds233 that their
affiliation with Kaygun’s estate is very recent, that the remainders of artworks,
which are not consigned to the Gallery for exhibitions or fairs, are therefore
kept by the estate. However, she tells that the inventory and the digital archive
was taken over from Elipsis, which may be interpreted as “the passing of the
torch” between two galleries, who committed to the protection and the
promotion of Kaygun’s legacy.
Currently keeping their inventory on Artlogic, the gallery’s representation has
resulted in a surge of posthumous revelations about works’ provenance, when
previously acquired and unknown editions of Kaygun’s works have been
submitted to the gallery by collectors. The gallery, which has shown Kaygun’s
works at Paris Photo in 2019, plans to publish a CR on the artist and fully
digitize its archive in the coming years.234
232 https://www.istanbulmodern.org/en/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/sahin-kaygun_1491.html
233 From the virtual interview with Müge Çubukçu on May 14, 2021.
234 Idem.
8 7
Much similar with Kaygun’s case is the estate of Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin, who
had been previously represented by Rampa Gallery until its closure in 2017. As
ascertained from Çekil’s case, Rampa had kept a very ordinate and meticulous
inventory of the artist according to Çubukçu, which was transferred in 2020 to
Galerist’s Artlogic database. The archive of the artist was likewise digitized by
SALT Research before Galerist’s affiliation with the estate and the physical
archival materials were returned to artist’s wife, artist Camilla Rocha, who
allowed the digital archive to Galerist’s use. The gallery, which has not
effectuated any changes on the market value of Alptekin’s oeuvre, plans to
contribute the artist’s legacy with a CR project and an exhibition at a museum
in the near future.
3.3.5. Artist Archives and Museums: Ara Güler
The first photography artist museum and perhaps the most sophisticated
archive center established in Turkey to date, are the Ara Güler Museum and the
Ara Güler Archive and Research Center (Ara Güler Arşiv ve Araştırma
Merkezi, AGAVAM) that are both located at Bomontiada, Istanbul. The
museum has opened on August 16, 2018, which marked the 90th birthday of
Ara Güler,235 after two years of meticulous work conducted by the team of
AGAVAM.
Although an internationally acclaimed figure in the world of photography with
a career that spans over half a century, materializing the immense project of
establishing these two institutions had been possible with the support of Doğuş
235 Ara Güler (1928-2018) is a photojournalist born to Armenian parents in Istanbul. Güler has
begun working with photography due to his father’s profession as a chemist who developed
Turkish film stock. His photographs were published in the Turkish-Armenian newspaper
Jamanak in 1952 before the Time-Life Company opened an office in Istanbul. He was
commissioned projects for foreign publications like Paris Match and the Sunday Times. In
1953, Güler joined the Magnum Agency. His works illustrating numerous publications and
periodicals, as well as numerous institutional collections, Güler was a recipient of Master of
Leica award in 1962 and France’s Légion d’Honneur for his work.
8 8
Group.236 In 2016, a collaborative enterprise, namely the Ara Güler Doğuş
Sanat ve Müzecilik Anonim Şirketi (Ara Güler Doğuş Art and Museum
Incorporated Company) has been founded and a board presided by Ara Güler,
was formed (Aktuğ, 2018). The agreement between Güler and Doğuş Group
ruled that all rights of the company would be transferred to Doğuş Group.
Although Güler has designated an heir237 he has not stipulated his heir to be a
member of the board; indicating his preference to leave the management of his
estate to a professional body that he deemed credible, owing to his longstanding
relations with the founders of the group. The board today, is
composed of executors and lawyers in addition to the art advisor of the group,
Çağla Saraç. When Sülün is asked whether the majority of board members’
expertise outside the artistic domain is or is not a handicap for the management
of the museum of AGAVAM, he informs that the board here is a company
board and that it rather supervises the financial and legal framework, leaving
the artistic agenda to the managers of the AGAVAM.238
As explored in Chapter 2.2.3, establishing a company is also favorable when
the works would continue to be produced and traded posthumously; in that
respect, it is a plausible administrative method for these institutions managing
and promoting239 Güler’s estate. Moreover, this enterprise co-created with
Doğuş Group was arguably a more dependable entity for Güler, who had
previously set up the “Ara Güler Photography Education and Art Foundation”
in 2012 with his own means and with similar concerns. In an interview240 the
same year, the photographer mentions that the Foundation would look after and
236 The Doğuş Group is a global corporate that runs businesses in different sectors including
automotive, construction, media, real estate, energy and hospitality & retail. For more
information: https://www.dogusgrubu.com.tr/en/corporate-profile
237 Ara Güler had no children of his own in his two marriages; the heir in question is from his
extended family.
238 From the virtual interview with the manager of AGAVAM, Umut Sülün on May 31, 2021.
239 AGAVAM is the sole body representing and marketing the prints of Ara Güler. These prints
are not editioned, since Ara Güler has not indicated editions in his lifetime. Idem.
240 https://hthayat.haberturk.com/yasam/roportajlar/haber/1008936-ara-guler-fotografhakikattir-
sanat-olamaz
8 9
coordinate his archive; another press coverage241 informs that the foundation
would set up a library, produce publications and organize events, workshops
and classes to promote photography and photojournalism.
However, despite the pledge of the undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture
and Tourism, who has expressed the Ministry’s abiding support for the
foundation,242 it is likely that the artist could not procure the required means
through state subsidies and/or individual efforts, thus gravitated towards such
union.243 Moreover, as gathered from other cases, setting up a foundation was
not favored by Ara Güler and/or Doğuş Group, since such modality entails
obligatory missions and engenders bureaucratic hurdles for foundations, as
opposed to a company, which is much more flexible in its activities. Indeed
over the past three years since its inauguration, the Museum has been able to
showcase the artist’s work in four major exhibitions 244 accompanied by
publications despite the quarantine restrictions. AGAVAM also collaborated
with other institutions, like Istanbul Modern245 and Arkas Art Center,246 and
substantiated the travelling exhibition organized by the Presidency of the
Republic of Turkey, between London, Paris, Kyoto, New York and Rome. 247
In the future, the museum plans to conceive other exhibitions from Güler’s
241 https://www.fotopedi.org/ara-gulerin-fotografcilik-egitim-ve-sanat-vakfi-kuruldu-13909
242 https://www.fotografdergisi.com/ara-guler-fotografcilik-egitim-ve-sanat-vakfi-kuruldu/
243 Umut Sülün, who was among the Board of Trustees of the former Ara Güler’s foundation
states that the foundation was indeed terminated. He was included in the new formation as a
consultant since he had direct insight about Güler’s wishes and objectives. (From the virtual
interview with the manager of AGAVAM, Umut Sülün on May 31, 2021.)
244 The exhibitions are: “Islık Çalan Adam” (16.08.2018-17.02.2019); “Aphrodisias”
(28.02.2019-31.08.2019); “Hayalimdeki İstanbul Ya Bir Vapurdur Ya Bir Kuş” (01.09.2019- );
“Aynı Rüyanın İçinde” (01.09.2019-).
245 “Two Archives, One Selection: Tracing Ara Güler’s footsteps in Istanbul”, May 29-
December 8, 2019 https://www.istanbulmodern.org/en/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/twoarchives-
one-selection-tracing-ara-gulers-footsteps-in-istanbul_2293.html
246 “Merhaba İzmir!”, Arkas Art Center, February 22-December 27, 2020
http://www.arkassanatmerkezi.com/En/article.aspx?pageID=330.
247 The exhibitions took place in Saatchi Gallery, London, April 24-May 5, 2019; Polka
Galerie, May 25-June15, 2019 ; Tofukuji Temple, July 1-10, 2019 ; Alexander Hamilton U.S.
Custom House, September 23-October 4, 2019 ; Museo di Roma in Trastevere, January 30-
May 3, 2020. For further information: https://www.iletisim.gov.tr/english/haberler/detay/araguler-
photography-exhibition-organized-by-the-presidency-to-be-opened-in-new-york-at-thesame-
time-as-the-un-general-assembly.
9 0
private collection that includes paintings and photographs of his
contemporaries.
The building, “Güler Apartmanı” where the artists lived and kept his archive is
currently under restoration to be converted also into a museum, which will
allow the public to get a more personal account of the artist. Then again,
certain circumstances hinder the process: the building is composed of two
adjacent structures; the front façade is registered as a historical building
whereas the rear front is not.248 On that account, the museum, which was
initially planned to be inaugurated at the building owned and occupied by the
artist in his lifetime, had to be moved over to Bomontiada to dodge
bureaucratic obstructions. Güler’s declining health was also taken into
consideration in this decision so that he could personally attend the opening of
his museum and archive center.249
Prior to the removal of all items from the interiors of Güler Apartmanı for the
restoration work, an “addressing” procedure was initiated in 2017 that took
seven months; it encompassed the identification, documentation and individual
labeling of each façade and surface on all seven floors of the building that
housed the Ara Güler’s archive. Each item was assigned an ID, showing which
compartment at which surface it was taken from, in which room and on what
floor on the inventory. Transferred to the climate-controlled storages of the
new premises at Bomontiada on July 2017, each of the boxes that contain the
archive, carry a specific label matching with the sign that indicates the
floor/room/surface/compartment data (Aktuğ, 2018). By help of such specific
addressing, all items taken from the building, such as furniture, decoration,
tools and the original boxes, which previously contained the archive, will be
248 Also given that the neighboring plot is partially registered and the sewage systems in that
block are quite old, the process has been complicated. (From the virtual interview with the
manager of AGAVAM, Umut Sülün on May 31, 2021.)
249 From the virtual interview with the manager of AGAVAM, Umut Sülün on May 31, 2021.
9 1
placed back in his museum upon its completion, hence reanimating the original
setting of Güler Apartmanı.
The whole procedure at the archive consists of five steps: the accommodation
of boxes in the climate-controlled archive storage by the conservation team is
followed by the dry-decontamination of materials from dust and potential fungi
or pest before moving on to other phases. Umut Sülün states that they were
fortunate to find that Güler’s archive was so well protected over the years that
very few items were affected to a degree that was salvageable.250 The third step
is the conservation process, which involves the transfer of materials to
standardized acid-free archival sleeves, envelopes and containers. This stage is
crucial in terms of historical consistency of the archive: the boxes containing
numerous items including photographic material such as films, negative and
positive reversal films, prints and other related documents are kept physically
intact, following the exact same categorization and order of Ara Güler himself.
A critical aspect here is that Ara Güler has always archived his documents and
prints by subject/theme instead of chronology. 251 This indicates that the
photographer has considered an archival strategy rather than simply stockpiling
his files. That being the case, the containers, like boxes, folders and envelopes
are updated yet their contents are kept exactly the same. In fact, the old frames
of reversal films, envelopes or other casings used by Güler are annexed in their
respective folders because they often bear a hand-written note, and also
because they provide information for the materials of the period, during which
his practice was active.
250 Ara Güler Müzesi [@aragulermuzesi]. (2020, August 14). “Ara Güler Arşiv ve Araştırma
Merkezi Gezisi”[Instagram video]. Retrieved from:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CD3kYdHCunP/
251 Güler has indicated dates on these boxes if only a certain subject was too broad and
included too many items to fit in a single box; hence a chronology was only established within
the scope of subjects.
9 2
Sülün remarks at this point that Güler has always used higher quality materials
than was found in his time in Turkey; deducing that the artist has apparently
thought hard over his materials and system.252 The only addition to the new
containers is an inventory form attached on top of the file, which includes a
barcode linked to this inventory form. The fourth stage in the archive is the
digitization. The contents of each box that goes through the previous
conservation room are being scanned here. Sülün indicates that all sorts of
letters, notes, negatives, books, posters or newspapers are scanned with 1200
dpi resolution, whereas selected archival items or prints are scanned with 8000
dpi resolution for publication purposes. The back-ups of these data are all
saved in the server rooms on the premises and these are again duplicated
weekly in the servers of Doğuş Teknoloji at Gebze.253
To honor Güler’s legacy and wishes, AGAVAM prioritizes the digitization of
the archive so as to provide material for scholarly research. The project director
of the institution Çağla Saraç informs that the royalty fee would be waived for
academic purposes (Aktuğ, 2018) so long as the copyright information is
indicated and the image is not cropped.254 In return, Sülün emphasizes that the
institution claims all rights for commercial activities without exception, with a
broader emphasis on duty of respect towards the artistic legacy they have
committed to preserve, rather than a financial pursuit. The institution stands
firmly behind this approach regardless of the backlash it may cause, since
copyright infringement is perpetrated too often Turkey, especially by those
who are well informed about intellectual property rights, such as the publishing
houses, galleries, auction houses or television channels. AGAVAM instigates
warnings in such instances255 and takes judicial action if need be, with the aid
252 Idem.
253 Idem.
254 The cropping is also allowed if the full image is included at the end of the publication.
255 The documentary by Coşkun Aral, titled “Bu Dünya Böyle Dünya: Ara Güler Belgeseli”
which was broadcasted on YouTube and social media is an example of such action. The
warning letter drawn up by the company has appeared on media, and has indeed received
backlash; it is noteworthy that the journalist Hikmet Çiçek questioned why the estate was not
9 3
of Doğuş Group’s legal department. According to Sülün, the more they have
claimed and exercised their rights, the more third parties began to seek
authorization for using Güler’s works; and that it contributes to establish norms
in a wider sphere. For all these reasons explained, AGAVAM places a contract
with third parties stipulating the terms and restrictions of use.256
The launch of the Museum’s website and the archive’s database is delayed for
several reasons. The first one concerns the expectancy of the public who was
eager to see new exhibitions on Güler’s oeuvre. Due to the preparations for the
exhibition projects mentioned above, Sülün tells that the digitization process
and the indexing of the archive were delayed. Moreover, the quarantine period
has been a setback for the conservation team, who could not physically access
the archive for a period of time and could solely work on online servers for
indexing or on editorial contents. Having said that, he further underlines that
the institutions have never meant to rush the processes, and that any decision
they make is the outcome of a regimented protocol because any action they
take is now binding on behalf of the institutions. While the digitization phase is
completed, Sülün indicates that indexing is a long-running task with respect to
the detailed data they enter into the system to establish a highly efficient
database.257
Ultimately, Sülün adds that they had no guidance when they have undertaken
their projects in 2017, and that AGAVAM considers certain projects whereby
they can share their know-how about archiving process and artistic legacy
management to assist younger generation of artists or help orchestrating other
estates,258 which would sustain their role as cultural custodians in Turkey.
institutionalized as a foundation. See: https://odatv4.com/ara-gulerin-adina-bile-el-koydular-
09042046.html
256 From the virtual interview with Umut Sülün on May 31, 2021.
257 From the virtual interview with Umut Sülün on May 31, 2021.
258 Idem.
9 4
3.3.6. Archives and Institutions of Memory: SALT Research
SALT Research was founded in 2011 in assembly with the non-profit cultural
institution SALT, as a specialized library and archive of physical and digital
sources that focus on the cultural landscape of Turkey from the late 19th
century onwards to our day.259
Having incorporated the Ottoman Bank Archives and Research Center (2003-
2008), Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center (2001-2007) and the Garanti
Gallery (2003-2008), the overarching institutional body, SALT had obtained an
accumulation of knowledge that provided insight for the preceding cultural
heritage of the city, as stated by Meriç Öner,260 who also emphasizes that the
practices of SALT Research do not merely amount to the “caretaking” of
documents but to make them available in favor of the public in a sustainable
way. (Öner, 2020)
As of today, SALT Research has three main archival collections261, which are
grouped under “Art”, “Architecture and Design” and “City, Society and
Economy”. The collection dedicated to “Art”, focuses on the history of art in
Turkey specifically after 1950 and constellates a plethora of materials and
documents collected from artists, curators, and institutions among other
cultural parties, shedding light on the cultural context of their time. Within this
scope, a subcategory accommodates the “Artists” archives262, bringing together
various documents and materials from the personal archives of 13 artists,
namely: Ahmet Öktem, Altan Gürman, Cengiz Çekil, Gülsün Karamustafa,
Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin, İsmail Saray, Moni Salim Özgilik, Mustafa Altuntaş,
259 http://saltresearch.org/primo_library/libweb/static_htmls/salt/info_about_en_US.jsp
260 Meriç Öner is the Director of Research and Programs at SALT.
261 https://archives.saltresearch.org
262 https://archives.saltresearch.org/handle/123456789/652
9 5
Sabiha Rüştü Bozcalı, Serhat Kiraz, Kutluğ Ataman, Tomur Atagök and Yusuf
Taktak. 263
As opposed to the practices of similar archive institutions worldwide, such as
IMEC (Institut Mémoires de l’édition contemporaine) in France, which retains
the archives physically, SALT Research receives the archives on loan and
returns them to their owners once they are digitized and made online.264 While
this presumably bespeaks of the limited resources of the institution and does
not resolve the problem of estates in terms of safeguarding their archival assets,
as previously voiced by Eda Çekil and Kerimcan Güleryüz, it underlines the
historical significance of the artists whose archives are represented;
furthermore it enables and promotes sustainable research on their life and
work, hence their legacy, as mentioned in Chapter 2.2.7.
Regarding the legal aspect of the archive, Sezin Romi265 tells that a written
agreement is made with the owners of each archive, and only the materials, the
copyright of which is owned by the artists or their heirs are made available
online with the restriction of personal use clause.266 Every item in the archive is
given an identifier and the rights holder267 is specified on the website along
with the Rights Statement and information whether the item is open to
everyone or if it may be reached locally on the premises of SALT.268 As for the
263 The archives of the artists Nur Koçak and Serhat Kiraz, as well as institutional archives of
Mine Sanat Galerisi and Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center are underway.
264 It should be noted however that SALT Research physically keeps the archives of two artists,
namely İsmail Saray and Kutluğ Ataman.
265 Sezin Romi is the Senior Librarian and Archivist at SALT.
266 From the virtual interview done with Romi on May 7, 2021.
267 Within this group of artists whose archive is digitized by SALT Research, Altan Gürman is
the only exception whose rightholder is not the estate. Romi explains that the artist’s heir;
Bilge Gürman has initiated the digitization of archive at SALT Research although ARTER held
the rights. After this minor confusion, both institutions have cooperated for the archive. Today,
it is ARTER, which conserves Gürman’s estate and archive whereas SALT Research makes his
archive accessible through its online database. The case presents therefore critical aspects
regarding both the perplexity about entrusting an estate and the collaboration of different
institutions.
268 Romi adds that during the Covid-19 lockdown period, SALT Research has facilitated the
access to “local only” files in order to encourage research on artists.
9 6
selection of documents in the archive, Romi tells that SALT does not favor
digitizing items that are inconvenient for online diffusion, given they strive to
render it a “living” archive as a rule. To keep in line with this principle, they
opt to digitize the items that contribute to the discourse of art history and leave
out merely intimate materials. To that end, the institution works with the artists
if they are alive, as in the case of Cengiz Çekil, whose presence during the
project ensured that the archiving process was carried out according to his
wishes and vision. In the absence of the artist or heirs, the archivist assumes
this initiative to avoid a build-up of irrelevant materials, which may result in an
ineffective archive. Regarding the registry of digital documents addressed in
Chapter 1.2.2., Romi explains that they have to be very selective, that only the
documents elucidating the research on artists are saved as pdfs.
This selective approach also extends to the estates. Romi explains269 that all
archival work taken on by SALT Research is conducted with utmost care and
that they are not favoring working on multiple archives at once. Furthermore,
she underlines the fact that the medium of artists can be a criterion for the
admittance or rejection of the digitization project; exemplifying that they have
not yet worked on the archives of photographers, like Şahin Kaygun since it
requires an additional expertise, even though these artists comply within the
framework of the institution. The main criteria for including artists’ archives at
SALT Research are the coherence of these personal archives with the art
historical narrative of the institution, whose focus is Turkey after 1950, and
their complementary aspect with respect to one another, according to Romi.
The liaisons between these artists indeed reveal new information or materials,
which then pave the way for curatorial work. For instance, the written
correspondences among Cengiz Çekil, Mustafa Altıntaş and İsmail Saray have
been quiet enlightening for the history of Gazi Arts-Crafts Department in
Ankara, which was later explored in the 2019 exhibition, “Idealist School,
269 From the virtual interview done with Romi on May 7, 2021.
9 7
Productive Studio”270 organized at SALT Ankara. Likewise, Romi mentions271
that the 2013 exhibition, “Sacred of Murals”272 shown at SALT Beyoğlu had
originated from the digitization of the artist Ahmet Öktem’s archive, where the
photographs of “First May Exhibition” of 1977 were found.
In addition to exhibitions organized at SALT, the archive also provides a basis
for exhibitions elsewhere. Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin’s posthumous exhibition
“Facts, Incidents, Accidents, Circumstances, Situations” 273 at Muzeum Sztuki
in Łódź for instance, have featured objects including commercial brochures,
postcards, hotel stationary, and packs of cigarettes from the artist’s archive.
These materials were contextualized as the vestiges of globalization,
immigration, exile and intercultural circulation of images, which were
recurrent themes in the artist’s practice (Romi, 2013) and were thus considered
equally critical for the artist’s oeuvre. In a similar vein, the “Democratic
luxury274” exhibition at M HKA in Antwerp has underlined the thought
processes of Alptekin by means of the studies, sketches and notes it borrowed
from the archive at SALT Research.
The library of SALT Research is another crucial component of the institution
in terms the externalization of visual artist estates and putting their assets to use
for the benefit of general public. Although managed independently, its
coherence with the archive is taken into consideration. The books owned by the
artists’ estates, whose archives are digitized by SALT Research, are included in
the library collection of SALT. Ahmet Öktem, Cengiz Çekil, Gülsün
Karamustafa, Mustafa Altıntaş and Yusuf Taktak are the artists who have
270 For more information: https://saltonline.org/en/1954/idealist-mektep-uretken-atolye.
271 From the virtual interview done with Romi on May 7, 2021.
272 For more information: https://saltonline.org/en/471.
273 For more information: https://msl.org.pl/huseyin-bahri-alptekin/
274 For more information: https://www.muhka.be/programme/detail/26-h-seyin-bahri-alptekindemocratic-
luxury
9 8
donated a portion of their libraries 275 whereas Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin’s library
has been completely donated to SALT Research’s, which now bears the name
of the artist as a specific section of the library collection. Despite the fact that
SALT Research has not digitized any photographer’s archive to this day, artist
Nazif Topçuoğlu’s library containing publications on photography that he has
collected since 1980’s were also donated to the institution. Romi mentions that
many artists, curators and art professionals donate publications and that the
names of these donors are always specified on the online library catalogue.276
It’s worth to mention that the artist archives digitized at the SALT Research
have also helped to produce new monographs on artists who previously had not
have any significant publication in their name. The monographs of Cengiz
Çekil and İsmail Saray are two examples in this respect. While Çekil’s book
preceded his institutional exhibitions as explained in the Chapter 3.3.2, Saray’s
book was published four years later than his 2014 exhibition at SALT. Romi
expressed that this interval allowed her and Duygu Demir as the co-editors of
the book to develop a self-critical approach.
Yet perhaps the most crucial impact of archival work and the ensuing
exhibitions and publications is that it helps to find the “missing pieces of the
puzzle” through the connections it brings about. A striking example of this is
the rediscovery of İsmail Saray’s work “EA-ARURU-KI” (1975): The work,
which had been sent by the artist himself to the Museum of Modern and
Contemporary Art in Koroška, Slovenia for an exhibition in 1975, was thought
to be lost. In fact, the monograph published in 2018 by SALT, has featured the
images of the work in its preparatory phases and the images from the Slovenian
exhibition’s catalogue as the only materials at hand, noting the whereabouts of
the work as “not known” because it was “not returned” to the artist. Following
275 Art historian and critic, Prof. Kaya Özsezgin’s (1938-2016) library, which included artist
monographs, exhibition catalogues and periodicals published in Turkey after 1970s were also
incorporated in the collection, providing a cross-reference for the archive.
276 From the virtual interview done with Romi on May 7, 2021.
9 9
the digitization of Saray’s archive, which led to his exhibition and eventually to
his monograph, the museum’s director Andreja Hribenik has sent an e-mail to
SALT Research in February 2020, stating that the work is in the permanent
collection of the museum since 1975 (Romi, 2021) with the proof of a letter277
that was sent by Saray to the former-director of the museum, which is now
included in the SALT Research archives. This case perfectly epitomizes the
pitfalls of visual artist estates that neglect proper archival work and underlines
the importance of institutions that help to construe a more solid account of the
artists and reinstate their oeuvre in the art historical discourse.
277 https://archives.saltresearch.org/handle/123456789/207935
10 0
CONCLUSION
As a result of a year-long research conducted on the visual artist estates’
management in Turkey, it has been understood that the stakeholders in the art
market, including artists, heirs, galleries and institutions are in dire need of a
collective conversation and professional guidance on the subject, since all
parties whom could be contacted within the research period were willing to
share their experiences. In addition to these particular experiences presented in
the third chapter, the overall historical and legal framework enabled to deduct
that:
The neoliberal politics of 1980s have boosted the accumulation of capital in
Turkey and the support to visual art has rapidly shifted from state to private
sector. This has paved the way for the integration to the international art scene.
The first examples of galleries were founded in this environment but also as a
response to the period of political turbulence, which brought forth the need of
solidarity among the intelligentsia in Turkey that is centered on sociocultural
activities. Following a propagation of galleries after the trailblazing models
such as Maya Art Gallery, and private museums in parallel to the growing
international prestige of the Istanbul Biennial, the art scene in Turkey has taken
off in early 2010s, but has rather done so for the sake of magnifying the
domestic market activity, without much emphasis on the protection or
processing of artistic heritages.
This lack of consideration rooted in the nonchalance of visual artists and
institutions such as galleries and museums, is quite apparent in the omission of
legal actions based on the existing law of IP, namely the Law No. 5846 or the
noninvolvement of art historians or artists in the collecting society, GESAM in
Turkey. Over and above, the artists and their heirs often opt to consult the same
attorneys as their galleries, thus jeopardizing the unfair monetization of their
estate. In return, the galleries omit agreements with the artists on the grounds
10 1
of their personal relationships, hence potential disputes with the heirs or a legal
gridlock in the absence of the artists they represent.
The interviews revealed that most artists disregard working with a professional
inventory software and thereby cannot keep track certain records. Another
explanation of this loss of data is related to the fact that the artists in Turkey
have typically spent their lives abroad or frequently travelled, especially at a
time when no electronic software was available. Consequently they are often
bereft of a proper Catalogue Raisonné, for it requires substantial time and
money to conduct research in their absence, but strive to publish
monographies, often under modest conditions.
Furthermore, it has been understood that the artists, or heirs and/or galleries
managing their estates have reservations about setting up legal entities such as
foundations, given they cherish their independence from legally binding
structures and taxes; however this arguably requires more effort to safeguard
and promote their work in the afterlife of artists.
Perhaps the most damaging aspect of the negligence towards visual artist
estates in Turkey is observable in the failure of fiduciary duties, as seen in the
case of Tiraje Dikmen Estate, whose assets have almost decayed, or in the case
of Semiha Berksoy Estate, whose masterpiece installation “Bedroom” has been
long locked away from the public, despite the wills of both artists.
As a final note, it has been recognized that the visual artists in Turkey have few
institutional collaborators other than their galleries and even then, they are
inclined to seek the services of a particular institution, namely SALT Research
to digitize their archives and make it available for scholarly research. However,
despite SALT’s commitment to foster a historical discourse through the means
of these archives, the institution can only assume limited projects within its
means.
10 2
On the basis of the evidence collected for this research, it is advisable for
visual artists to:
• Keep an inventory of works and configure the estate assets accordingly,
in order to rule out potential factual errors and avoid the eradication of
their legacies in future.
• Separate the tangible and intangible assets to help create funds for
future projects, like setting up a library, museum or foundation.
• Classify the artworks and keep a group of works outside the art market
to a “pension fund” or a source for the future management of their
estates.
• Keep a record of works that have been gifted or stolen in the past.
• Compile a Catalogue Raisonné including the exhibition history,
provenance and bibliographical references of each work; or make
preparations thereof, so as to minimize the costs of research, as well as
to co-author the art historical prominence of their legacies.
• Take the archiving of e-documents into consideration and develop a
system for their database.
• Make sure their work is inventoried and contextualized for the purposes
of scholarly research, apart from their visibility on the Internet.
• Place a copyright notice in the caption of artworks, be it on the digital
or in print.
• Draft a will stipulating their conditions and wishes towards their estate
holdings including the artworks, and addressing estates’ beneficiaries,
to avoid the risk of lesser or wrongful posthumous exposure. To append
codicils or revoke and re-write the will properly if need be.
• Not rely on third parties, such as galleries or estate executors to
determine which asset is an artwork; what may be reproduced or recast.
10 3
• Get separate legal consultation from their galleries to avoid any
malfeasance.
• Leave instructions for the assembly and exhibiting of artworks along
with photographic and written documents.
• Ideally indoctrinating a descendant so as to ensure the continuity of
their legacies, but to aim at composing a group of professionals to
support the endeavors of the family.
• Be proactive about one’s moral and economic rights and dully enforce
them.
• Inform, consult or confirm forehand the acceptance of institutions for
donations to avoid their “deaccessioning” in the future.
• Become members of the GESAM collecting society, if they cannot
afford to pursue their royalties privately.
As such, if the visual artists take these recommendations into considerations
and adopt those, which are applicable to their conditions, for the planning of
their estates’ afterlife, with the aid of stakeholders such as their heirs, galleries,
dealers, auction houses, art historians, attorneys, collecting societies,
foundations and museums, I reckon that the art milieu in Turkey would
collectively improve in terms of legacy stewardship; more importantly, we
would not only be concerned with safeguarding material remnants of the
artworks of artists, but a more accurate and comprehensive art historical
narrative would be recorded that will ensure the communication of their lives’
work to future generations.
10 4
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