A naive painter in contemporary Turkish painting: Oya Katoglu

The subject of this thesis is the works and style of Oya Katoglu, one of the painters whose works attract attention with her unique style and expressive language in contemporary Turkish painting. Katoglu, who grew up in an environment intertwined with art from a young age, started painting by taking lessons from his father, painter Turgut Zaim. His father contributed greatly to the creation of the artist's style. Another important point for our research is that there is no detailed study dealing with the similarities and differences of Oya Katoglu and Turgut Zaim in terms of style and subject matter. The artist, who has an intense power of observation, has strengthened his naive style works with meticulous brushwork, color harmony, an original understanding of figure and folkloric elements. The fact that the artist does not include any foreign elements in his compositions and creates his own painting world in his works has a special importance in the history of Turkish painting. When the artist's paintings are examined, it is seen that he touches on many different subjects such as Anatolian life, market places, cities, windows and women. There are hardly any articles comparing the subject and style of Katoglu's paintings with those of his contemporaries. In this study, Katoglu's understanding of art, style and subjects were examined through paintings and by comparing them with his contemporaries. Oya Katoglu has carried out versatile works throughout her career. Book paintings, specially designed porcelain plate decorations, poster designs, tombstone patterns and original prints that the artist made apart from canvas paintings were also examined. However, the place of Oya Katoglu in contemporary Turkish painting and European Naifs was discussed and it was determined that the artist never included fantastic elements in his works. Compared to other naïves, the artist has applied more to miniature technique and figurative features in her compositions. Oya Katoglu has an important place in contemporary Turkish painting with her national and international awards.