Uşak Atatürk Monument

The Uşak Atatürk Monument is a caped Atatürk Sculpture in Uşak, Turkey by Gürdal Duyar that was inaugurated in 1965. The sculpture was one of 8 Atatürk monuments erected after winning a competition initiated by a campaign of the Milliyet newspaper. It is one of the best-known early examples of Gürdal Duyars' style of modern figurative sculpture, and is one of Turkeys first modern figurative Atatürk monuments. It was originally created for its initial location on a high plinth in a park called government square in front of the governors building, but has since been moved to a new location onto a new-lower plinth near the Uşak railway station.

The Uşak Atatürk monument as appears pictured in Berk & Gezer (1973), p. 197.

Uşak Atatürk Monument
tr: Uşak Atatürk Anıtı, tr: Hükümete 5 çay heykeli
The Uşak Atatürk Monument in its original location
ArtistGürdal Duyar
Year1965 (1965)
Dimensions7.5 m (25 ft)
Conditionmoved
LocationUşak
Coordinates38°39′51.2″N 29°24′24.6″E

Sculpture

It was originally erected in a park in Uşak where Gürdal Duyars' Monument to the Unknown Soldier (1964) was also located.[1] This was the same location as, or it was later moved to, the government square infront of the governors building.[2] Its current location appears to be near the Uşak train station where it was moved to without its original plinth. The new, lower, base has a plaque with a quote from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk about the railways Demiryolu refah ve uygarlik yoludur meaning "Railways are the way of prosperity and civilization."[3]

Style

The way that the Uşak Atatürk sculpture plays with mass and texture are important.[4] It diverges from typical Atatürk monuments of the time which were of a more established academic style.[5][6] It depicts a caped Ataturk with his left hand raised and right hand in motion.[7] The monumental sculpture towers at 7.5 m (25 ft).[8]

The spatial design around the area of the monument was designed by Erhan Demirok.[8] Its original place was in the same park that also contains Gürdal Duyars' Monument to the Unknown Soldier (1964).[9][10]

History

Campaign

The Milliyet newspaper, following the coup of 27 May 1960, initiated a campaign to erect Atatürk monuments in 11 provinces where there were no Atatürk monuments.[11]

The campaign succeeded in raising 429,856 Lira.[12]

Competition

28 sculptors participated in the competition.[12] Gürdal Duyar who was the youngest,[13] was among sculptors including Hakkı Atamulu, Şadi Çalık, Hüseyin Gezer, Hüseyin Anka, Zühtü Müritoğlu, Mustafa Nusret Suman, and İsmail Gökçe to sign up for the competition.[11] The competition went on from 3 March to 14 May 1964.

On 26 May 1964 the organisation of judges met at the Beyoğlu Development Institute.[12] The jury, headed by Rudolf Belling was met with 29 design proposals. However they were met with 28 1 meter tall Atatürk sculpture proposals, and one bust by Gürdal Duyar. The jury decided unanimously that they would be choosing a sculptors and not their design proposals to be erected per se, and that the sculptor should be suited to the place that the given Atatürk sculpture would be erected, and that the sculptor would make a design based upon the surroundings of the place where the sculpture would be erected. The designs were reduced to 18 which were inspected and a further 10 passed onto the next round. Then the jury removed two more for only 8 sculptors to remain.[12] Gürdal Duyars was one of the remaining 8.[1] The results were that Nusret Suman, Hakkı Atamulu, Şadi Çalık and Zühtü Müridoğlu were selected unanimously and Gürdal Duyar, Hüseyin Gezer, İsmail Gökçe and Hüseyin Anka Özkan by a majority vote.[12]

The jury then decided to move forward by giving these sculptors suggestions for the creation of the new designs.[12]

Gürdal Duyar was allocated to Uşak,[14][15][16] Nusret Suman to Bingöl, Hüseyin Gezer to Tunceli, Hüseyin Anka Özkan to Van, Şadi Çalık to Bitlis, İsmail Gökçe to Mardin, Zühtü Müridoğlu to Muş, and İsmail Gökçe to Giresun. The commission for the one in Giresun was given to İsmail Gökçes after the original sculptor selected to have their work sculpted in Giresun, Hakkı Atamulu, changed their mind about making the sculpture.[17][18]

Development

The chosen sculptors then proceeded to travel to their allocated provinces to inspect the surroundings and environment of the locations that the sculptures were to be erected. They also observed the material and historical relevance of the locations and developed their designs accordingly. [19]

Further examination

The state arts jury gathered for the first examination on 19 February 1965 to inspect the proposals. The proposals that were deemed appropriate were those for Tunceli (Gezer), Uşak (Duyar), and Muş (Müridoğlu). The proposals for Mardin (Gökçe), Bingöl (Suman), Bitlis (Çalık), Giresun (Atamulu) and Van (Özkan) were deemed inappropriate, and were given suggestions on what to improve.[19]

At the second gathering of the jury on 7 April 1965 the remaining proposals were passed, and all the sculptors were given the go-ahead to create the life sized versions of their sculpture designs.[19]

These life sized sculptures were gathered in the garden of the Galatasaray High School and were again inspected by a jury on 15 June 1965. The jury accepted the design for Tunceli (Gezer), rejected the design for Giresun (Atamulu) and provided further suggestions for the remaining proposals.[19]

The remaining sculptures were again inspected on 23 June 1965 and were accepted.[19]

Erection

Gürdal Duyar's Uşak Atatürk Monument was erected on 10 November 1965, and the other sculptures were also erected through 1965 and 1966.[14][15]

Reception

The Uşak Atatürk Monument was Duyar's first major breakthrough on the road to gaining recognition as an established sculptor.[8]

The sculpture became known colloquially as the hükümete 5 çay heykeli because of a phrase Atatürk had said when he visited Uşak.[20][21]

References

Notes

    Citations
    1. Elibal 1973, p. 293.
    2. "Uşak" (Postcard). wowTurkey.com. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
    3. "Untitled Image" (Photo). Retrieved 20 October 2022.
    4. Berk & Gezer 1973, p. 197.
    5. Internet Cini 2010.
    6. Atatürk Anıtları 2017.
    7. Dinçol et al. 1982, p. 1147.
    8. Elibal 1973, p. 298.
    9. Akay 1984, p. 1869–1870.
    10. Elibal 1973, p. 290, 293.
    11. Alsaç & Alsaç 1993, p. 72.
    12. Elibal 1973, p. 296.
    13. Elibal 1973, p. 295.
    14. Elibal 1973, p. 290.
    15. Berk & Gezer 1973, p. 277.
    16. Elibal 1973, p. 380.
    17. Berk & Gezer 1973, p. 16.
    18. Elibal 1973, p. 295-298.
    19. Elibal 1973, p. 297.
    20. spektakulersehirheykelleri (11 September 2012). "şehir heykelleri". spektakulersehirheykelleri.tumblr.com. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
    21. Vural, Ugur (13 October 2020). "UŞAK YEREL TARİH - Heykeltraş Gürdal Duyar'ın 1965 yılında yaptığı Uşak Atatürk Anıtı namı diğer Hükümete 5 Çay | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 31 January 2023.

    Bibliography
    • Alsaç, Birsen; Alsaç, Üstün (June 1993). "II. Bölum: Yontu. ii. Cumhuriyet Dönemi" [Section II: Statue. ii. Republic Era]. Türk Resim ve Yontu Sanatı [The Art of Turkish Painting and Statue]. Cep Üniversitesi 123 (in Turkish) (1st ed.). Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları. pp. 70–75. ISBN 975-470-341-8.
    • Elibal, Gültekin (1973). Atatürk ve Resim - Heykel [Atatürk and Painting – Sculpture] (in Turkish) (1st ed.). Istanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
    • Berk, Nurullah; Gezer, Hüseyin (1973). 50 Yılın Türk Resim Ve Heykeli [Turkish Painting and Sculpture of the first half century] (in Turkish) (1st ed.). Istanbul: İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları : 123.
    • Internet Cini (31 July 2010). "Atatürk için yapılan Anıtlar" [Monuments made for Atatürk]. inernetincini.blogcu.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
    • "Atatürk Anıtları" [Ataturk Monuments]. bilgipinarim.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
    • Dinçol, Ali; Belli, Oktay; Sevin, Veli; Özsait, Mehmet; Onurkan, Somay; Yıldız, Hakkı D.; Eyice, Semavi; Halaçoğlu, Yusuf; Baykara, Tuncer; Sözen, Metin; Sönmez, Zeki; Demiriz, Yıldız; Çağman, Filiz; Tansuğ, Sezer (1982). "Türk Resim ve Heykel Sanatı" [The Art of Turkish Painting and Sculpture]. Anadolu Uygarlıkları: Görsel Anadolu Tarihi Ansiklopedisi [Anatolian Civilizations: Visual Encyclopedia of Anatolia] (in Turkish). Istanbul: Görsel Yayınlar.
    • Akay, Ezel, ed. (9 July 1984). "Gürdal Duyar". Türk ve Dünya Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi. 34 (in Turkish). Vol. 4. Maslak-Istanbul: Anadolu Yayıncılık. pp. 1869–1870 – via Issuu.
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