A landmark retrospective at Istanbul Modern
Istanbul Modern presents a sweeping retrospective dedicated to Semiha Berksoy—opera singer, painter, and one of the most singular figures in twentieth-century Turkish cultural life. The exhibition brings together paintings, archival materials, and personal objects across the museum’s main galleries.
Spanning six decades of artistic production, Aria of All Colors offers the most comprehensive survey of Berksoy’s visual work to date. Known primarily as the first Turkish woman to receive operatic training in Europe, Berksoy pursued painting with equal intensity throughout her life—producing canvases marked by vivid color, psychological intensity, and a recurring preoccupation with the female form.
The exhibition is organized thematically rather than chronologically, tracing recurring motifs across her career: portraiture, performance, mythology, and self-representation. Several rarely seen works from private collections appear publicly for the first time.
Istanbul Modern’s presentation contextualizes Berksoy’s painting within the broader history of modernism in Turkey, positioning her as both a participant in and a critical observer of the cultural transformations of her era.
Aria of All Colors is on view through September 2026.
