Burhan Dogançay

Burhan Dogancay
Burhan Dogancay at the Dogancay Museum
Born	11 September 1929 (1929-09-11)
Died	16 January 2013 (2013-01-17) (aged 83)
Nationality	Turkish, American
Education	University of Ankara, University of Paris, Académie de la Grande Chaumière
Known for	Painting, Photography, Collage and Printmaking
Notable work	Billboard (1964), Symphony in Blue (1987), Stonewall (2009)
Movement	Street Art, Pop Art, Photorealism, Conceptual Art
Awards	Turkish National Medal for the Arts for Lifetime Achievement

Burhan C. Doğançay (11 September 1929 – 16 January 2013) was a Turkish-American artist. Doğançay is best known for tracking walls in various cities across the world for half a century, integrating them in his artistic work.

Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Burhan Dogançay obtained his artistic training from his father Adil Doğançay, and Arif Kaptan, both well-known Turkish painters. In his youth, Dogançay played on the Turkish Gençlerbirliği soccer team. In 1950, he received a law degree from the University of Ankara. While enrolled at the University of Paris between 1950–1955 from where he obtained a doctorate degree in economics, he attended art courses at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. During this period he continued to paint regularly and to show his works in several group exhibitions. Soon after his return to Turkey, he participated in many exhibitions, including joint exhibitions with his father at the Ankara Art Lovers Club.

Following a brief career with the government (diplomatic service) which brought him to New York City in 1962, Dogançay decided in 1964 to devote himself entirely to art and make New York his permanent home. He starts searching the streets of New York for inspiration and raw materials for his collage and assemblages. Despite working hard, it seems impossible to make a reasonable living. Thomas M. Messer, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for 27 years, significantly influences Dogançay's career, urging him to stay in New York and face the city's challenges. In the 1970s, he starts traveling for his "Walls of the World" photographic documentary project and meets his future wife, Angela, at the Hungarian Ball at the Hotel Pierre, New York. In 2006, a painting by Dogancay titled "Trojan Horse" was gifted by the Turkish government to the OECD in Paris. Dogançay worked and divided the last eight years of his life between his studios in New York and Turgutreis, Turkey, until his death at the age of 83 in January 2013.