in contact with each other after they were released. Following his release from prison in 1950, Balaban spent two years in Istanbul, where he opened his first personal exhibition in 1953. Early in his career, Balaban encountered fierce criticism from established art circle, which consisted of formally educated artists and critics. Their reactions were often derisory and bordered on a classist tendency, on the basis that an uneducated peasant had no place in Turkish art. Nevertheless, he has presented more than 2,000 pieces in more than 50 expositions to date. He is also the author of 11 books. He is known for his realistic motifs. He describes himself as follows: I am an artist painting scenes of people from within Turkish daily life. Why scenes of people? Because I've always observed the lives and the lifestyles of people and placed these observations in my memory, and then conveyed the observations in my memories to paper, to compositions and then to canvas. I've been making paintings of Turkey for years by conveying these observations; I've been doing this since 1950. Books References External links Past Auction Results for Ibrahim Balaban on artnet.com 1921 births 2019 deaths People from Osmangazi Prisoners and detainees of Turkey Turkish painters Realist painters