Cemal Tollu began his art education in 1919 by enrolling at the Sanâyi-i Nefîse Mektebi. During this period he worked in the studios of Hikmet Onat and İbrahim Çallı. His education was interrupted due to his participation in the National Struggle, but upon returning to Istanbul in 1926 he resumed his studies at the same school. In 1928, with the support of his family, he went to Paris to continue his education internationally and began working in André Lhote’s studio. In 1931 he briefly traveled to Munich where he undertook analytical composition studies in Hans Hofmann’s studio. He continued his work in André Lhote’s studio until 1932 and also attended the studios of Fernand Léger, Louis Marcoussis and Charles Despiau, as well as the Académie Moderne. In his early period he was influenced by the forms of Marcel Gromaire, André Lhote’s geometric构图, and Hans Hofmann’s cubism.

Career and Achievements

Throughout his artistic career, Cemal Tollu held various positions at institutions:

• In 1927 he began teaching drawing at the Elazığ Male Teachers School.
• In 1931 he participated in the exhibition of the Independent Painters and Sculptors Union.
• From 1932 to 1935 he taught drawing at the Erzincan Military Secondary School.
• In 1933 he was among the founding members of the D Group and participated in all of its exhibitions.
• In 1935 he was appointed deputy director of the Ankara Archaeology Museum (Museum of Anatolian Civilizations).
• In 1937 he joined the Academy of Fine Arts as an assistant to Léopold Lévy, head of the Painting Department.
• In 1945 he opened his own studio at the school and held this position until his retirement in 1964.

Notable Works and Contributions

In addition to his artistic output, Cemal Tollu authored several written works. His first art writings were published in 1933 in the magazine Yeni Adam and continued in various newspapers and journals until 1956.

His book Mitoloji (1957) and the monograph Şeker Ahmed Paşa (1967) were published by the Academy of Fine Arts as textbooks. In his paintings, Cemal Tollu rendered Anatolian subjects and life through solid volumetric and geometric forms. He emphasized monumental compositional structure, the accuracy of value and proportion in color, and distilled details to create archaic, plastic forms.

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