– ihap hulusi görey –

 

The Man Who Adorned the Republic with Posters

 

Ender MERTER

 

 

İhap Hulusi who held a pen and worked nearly up to his final breath was as significant an artist as Picasso or Rodin.

 

In my book titled “Müsellesten Üçgene” (“From the Müselles [Arabic for triangle]) to the Triangle”) which I had published in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth (1998) I had said that you might conceive of the  question “why İhap Hulusi?” and proceeded to explain. I have tried to tell of the great master through countless events I organized and books I published in the eighteen years since, and once more to make a small reminder to our young population of a great master with an international career who lived before and during the Republic.

 

That great master is the first colorful representative of the most popular sector we call the world of communication, the sector which made its mark on the 21st century. He is also an artist and psychologist, and a teacher who speaks to people who have been exhausted by daily life, enabling the masses to feel the artistic gusto in the deepest sense.

 

My book titled “Çizgi Dünyasına Yolculuk” (“A Journey into the World of the Drawing”) which I published in 2004 to honor the 30th anniversary of his passing will be shared once again in with a special print as a culture and art event by Nielsen Turkey.

 

As in Greece and Rome, eastern countries had the habit of hanging official writs and announcements on walls.  Posters printed on paper on the other hand, date back to the 15th century. The oldest posters were handwritten. These posters dated 1454 were adorned with the image of the Virgin Mary and spoke of the charity collected in France at church doors. Posters used for advertising purposes emerged in the 19th century. The invention of lithography enabled the cheap and fast production of brightly colored posters. The founder of this art and the first great poster artist was Jules Chéret. Chéret developed a unique style by using bright colors, fine figures and striking fonts. The first poster prepared by Chéret announced a play of the famous theatre actress Sarah Bernhardt. Born in 1836 in Paris, Chéret had learned various printing techniques in England. Upon returning to Paris he proceeded to apply what he had learned in his own workshop. Chéret was soon known throughout Europe for his posters.

 

The turning point of the art of the poster was the ‘Art Nouveau’ (New Art) movement that emerged in the early 1890’s in Europe. The ‘Art Nouveau’ movement which manifested in architecture, decoration, object design, book covers, and posters particularly between the years of 1890 and 1910 was born of the conviction that the fine arts could be popular and useful, and found a natural narrative method in the art of the poster. The undisputed master of this movement, the Czech Alphonse Mucha had designed his first poster for Sarah Bernhardt and this poster had made him famous overnight.

 

 

The advent of the art of the poster in Turkey coincides with the first years of the Republic. The pioneer of the art of the poster in Turkey is without a doubt, İhap Hulusi Görey. Despite the technological limitations of his time, İhap Hulus has executed products that were striking for their exceedingly creative and austere expression. İhap Hulusi said, “In my fifty years of living, I’ve naturally experienced many hardships. But I am glad and happy to be the first artist to have introduced the color poster to Turkey despite these hardships.”

 

Born in the city of Cairo in Egypt on November 28th, 1898, İhap Hulusi attended primary and secondary school in the English schools of Cairo.  He went to Germany for an art education in 1920. He initially worked for three years at the Haimann Schule workshop in Munich, then attended the Kuntsgewerbe Schule and returned to Istanbul having completed his education. He was asked by his father to enter the Foreign Ministry due to his fluency in Arabic, German, English, and French, yet he declined civil service. He worked with Munif Fehim and Ramiz in the Akbaba magazine. İhap Hulusi who then prioritized his poster work commented in mentioning the significance of ‘invention’ in creating a poster, “It should inspire interest and contemplation in the viewer.”

 

After establishing his first workshop in Istanbul in 1929, İhap Hulusi designed the Kulüp Rakısı label and upon a commission by Atatürk, the cover of the Turkish Alphabet, and served Ziraat Bank, İş Bank, Yapı Kredi Bank, Garanti, Sümerbank, Emlak Kredi, Türk Ticaret Bank, the Ministry of Finance (bonds), the Turkish Aeronautical Association, Kızılay, Yeşilay, the Agency of Agricultural Equipment, and many private companies with his various works.

 

Having worked for 45 years for the Teyyare (Airplane) Lottery (the National Lottery), and 35 years for the Tekel Administration made his name overseas in the process. Bayer’s posters and labels; posters and ads for the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, State Railways, and Intercity Lines of Egypt; posters and labels for the famous English whisky John Haig, and the Italian Cinzano and Fernet Branca were designed by İhap Hulusi.

 

Aside from his watercolor works İhap Hulusi Görey created successful examples by modernizing the art of Islamic calligraphy in his final years, and passed away in Istanbul on March 27th, 1986 at the age of 88.

 

Yes, now he can be commemorated at his exclusive gallery at the Republican Museum of the Marmara University.  Despite the 30 years since his passing, his flavor still remains.

 

 

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