The Prince's Extraordinary World, Abdülmecid Efendi

Under the sponsorship of Sabancı Holding, Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum hosts the “The Prince’s Extraordinary World: Abdülmecid Efendi”exhibition on the life and art of Abdülmecid Efendi, who had a lasting effect on Turkish art history. Apart from his patronage to many artists and institutions, he was an accomplished painter who was also interested in calligraphy, music and literature. The exhibition is open to all art lovers between 21 December 2021 – 1 May 2022.

“The Prince’s Extraordinary World: Abdülmecid Efendi” comprises artworks from SSM’s collection, 14 official institution collections, 17 family collections, private museum and gallery collections, together with the works that arrived from France, where the Caliph spent his last 20 years, with the support and cooperation of the Institut Français Turkey and the French Consulate in Istanbul. The exhibition collection consists of 60 paintings and more than 300 documents, along with a self-portrait, dated 1926, from the Musée Massena Collection in Nice and 2 original framed paintings taken from the Pierre Loti Museum House in Rochefort and gifted to Loti by Abdülmecid Efendi.

The exhibition offers a comprehensive perspective on Abdülmecid Efendi's art. The “Abdülmecid Efendi Beyond Vision” section presents the SSM collection’s six Abdülmecid Efendi paintings, which were, for the first time ever, subject to a scientific research study. The study carried out in collaboration with Sabancı University, Koç University and Istanbul University Faculty of Forestry, illuminates Abdülmecid Efendi's painting technique, the restoration in his works; the structure, colour, paint layers and texture of the materials he used, and his artistic production conditions.

Sabancı University staff and students can visit the exhibition “The Prince’s Extraordinary World: Abdülmecid Efendi” free of charge at the SSM’s Gallery on -2 between 10:00 – 18:00 except for Mondays and 10:00 – 20:00 on Saturdays; until Sunday, 1 May 2022.