Adil Doğançay

Who was Adil Doğançay?

Adil Doğançay, the father of Burhan Dogançay, was born in Istanbul in 1900. He was an officer in the Turkish army and also a well-known painter. His works are predominantly impressionistic land- and seascapes as well as still lifes in oil on canvas. Although few of his paintings are dated, most of them were completed between 1940 and 1990, the year he died.

Adil Doğançay received his artistic training from Major Şeref Bey at the Eyüp Military Academy and from Major Tahsin Bey, a seascape artist from Diyarbakır, at the Topography School. He fought in the Turkish War of Independence and was awarded the Independence Medal. As a topographer, he traveled all over Anatolia, which gave him the opportunity to spend hours surrounded by nature. The artist produced most of his paintings outdoors, calling nature his ‘greatest teacher’.

Adil Doğançay took part in many group shows held by the Society of Retired Officer Painters, the Society of Topography Officer Painters and the Ankara Society for Fine Arts, as well as the Turkish Painters and Fine Arts Association, of which he was a member. His works were also shown at the prestigious annual State Painting and Sculpture exhibitions in Ankara.