Istanbul Art Galleries, Museums, Supplies & More

Best art galleries Istanbul museums supplies classes your area

We are all about to dive deep into everything about art in Istanbul and our opening section will fully cover the best art galleries and museums near you.

Up next we will discuss a variety of other topics like local art supply stores, events, festivals, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures and statues, art classes, studios for rent, and the top frame shops in your area.

If you are searching for any specific section you can jump straight to it by using the table of contents on the left and we will also be sharing an Istanbul art map with all of the various venues we mention throughout the post pinned on it. Here at FindArtNearYou we know your time is valuable so will get on with it already.

Best Art Galleries & Museums In Istanbul

If you want to visit the best art galleries and museums in Istanbul you can go to:

Istanbul Modern is Turkey’s first museum of modern and contemporary art after opening in 2004 and today you will find permanent and temporary exhibition rooms, a photographic gallery, educational and social program rooms, library, cinema, and supply store. The Istanbul Museum of Modern Art Library provides tourists and academics with materials on modern and contemporary art with over 11,500 volumes in Turkish and foreign languages as well as subscriptions to 24 monthly magazines. You can visit the museum from 10am to 6pm most days but they are closed on Monday, stay open until 8pm on Thursday, and open at 11am on Sunday.

The Istanbul Contemporary Art Museum, iS.CaM, is an independent artist-run museum that was founded in 1997.

For a photographic museum in the Işli neighborhood that protects and transmits to future generations the archive of photographer Ara Güler’s 70-year career visit Ara Guler Museum.

Pera Museum opened on June 8, 2005 and it is a private museum created by the Suna and inan Kraç Foundation. Since its inception Pera has collaborated annually with national and international art and education institutes to organize shows that encourage new artists providing visitors and film enthusiasts with a diverse selection of screenings ranging from classics and indie films to animated pictures and documentaries. Head over to see all they have to offer starting at 10am Tuesday through Saturday and at noon on Sunday.

Salt Galata is open from 11am to 7pm Tuesday through Saturday and until 6pm on Sunday and is a cultural institution that offers public activities like interviews, conferences, and screenings as well as research, exhibitions, publications, online, and digitization initiatives and workshops. They do multidisciplinary research and have interests in art, architecture, design, and social and economic history.

Pilevneli Gallery is open from 10am to 6pm Tuesday through Saturday located in Istanbul’s ancient area of Dolapdere featuring a 1,500 square meter exhibition area that is primarily dedicated to modern art. Murat Pilevneli has been a key figure in the local contemporary art scene for over two decades.

A brand-new platform that debuted in the fall of 2012 that has established itself as one of the country’s top galleries by focusing solely on rising local talent allowing young artists to find active and widespread support and collectors to discover new and fascinating work is what you get from Mixer.

Pilot Gallery is open from 10:30am to 6:30pm Tuesday through Saturday as a contemporary art gallery located on Sraselviler Street that was converted from a prominent 1970’s nightclub to an art gallery.

Dirimart was founded in 2002 in the Nişantaş district by Hazer ziland has been essential in increasing the city’s prominence in the global art scene by building long-term connections with important international artists. Their initial gallery space was in Nişantaş, Istanbul’s premium fashion and entertainment district where it staged over 100 exhibits from its inception in 2002 and its closure in 2015. Today you can visit Dirimart from 10am to 7pm Tuesday through Saturday and starting at noon on Sunday.

The Elipsis Gallery is open from 11am to 7pm Tuesday through Friday and from noon to 6pm on Saturday providing investment and collecting guidance in photography while representing both emerging Turkish photographers and experienced foreign photographers. Elipsis also offers photographic art advising to organizations and individuals for investment and art collecting.

Founded in 2001 Galerist is a pioneering contemporary art gallery that is open from 11am to 7pm Tuesday through Saturday showing works by both local and international artists at its Tepebaş space.

Materials & Supplies Near You

These art stores near you should have all of the materials and supplies you need:

Anka Sanat was created in 2010 and with many years of experience in the stationery, creative, and hobby materials industries continuing its activities with a more corporate and professional understanding and innovative vision with its experienced staff.

Güven Sanat is the country’s biggest supplier of art, hobby, and model materials offering high-quality service at an accessible price.

For a painting, sculpture, graphic, ceramic, engraving, marbling, watercolor, materials, and papers store in your area head to Ozen Kirtasiye.

In its 800 m24-story storefronts Art Sanatsal offers a diverse assortment of items and they have business partners in 81 provinces and 300 districts around the country. They launched their second branch in Istanbul Kadköy in 2013 with the Art Sanatsal shop which they began in 1978 with a retail store in Bursa.

Color Box Art Materials is available to meet all of your stationery and art supply needs both in the store we listed here and in the two new shops they opened up in Kadikoy.

Karin Sanat currently serves in the field of gold leaf and auxiliary materials with a diverse product offering that includes both conventional and modern painting supplies, they are the go-to destination for art enthusiasts. They also provide high-quality calligraphy, marbling, illumination, miniature materials, paint, brush, canvas, and easels.

Shows & Events

Some of the top art shows and events in Turkey are found right here like:

The Istanbul International Film Festival lasts about two weeks and is hosted by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV). In April you can discover and enjoy amazing local and worldwide films in competition at many culture institutions and theaters in the Beyoglu and Kadikoy districts during the city’s main film festival.

The Tulip Festival is a free event where visitors may experience billions of tulips of 120 various varieties that bloom in April as well as a variety of cultural and art events held at Emirgan Park and Sultanahmet Square. There is also a tulip photo contest with prizes offered to the winners.

IKSV organizes the Istanbul International Music Festival which lasts around three weeks. This major music festival in June features outstanding performances by major international and local performers as well as classical music performances including philharmonic orchestras and baroque music.

The International Book Fair is an 8-day fair for book lovers conducted every year in cooperation with the Turkish Publishers Association at the TUYAP Fair Convention and Congress Center in the Buyukcekmece neighborhood that gets an average of 500,000 visitors each day. During the expo you may purchase books from the 800 exhibitors from Turkey and throughout the world.

Contemporary Istanbul is a well-established art fair with over 13 prior editions which has fast grown in popularity and currently gets roughly 75,000 people to come out each year.

Art Dealers & Appraisers

When you want to find some new unique works or figure out the true value of something visit art dealers and appraisers like:

Carré d’Artistes showcases different artists and makes unique works available at the gallery which initially opened its doors in France and is currently home to approximately 500 artists’ works.

Zilberman Gallery was formed in 2008 and hosts 10-12 exhibits each year in its major gallery locations both here and in Berlin,as well as at its project space. The exhibition is spread on two levels of Msr Apartment which is one of Istanbul’s most well-known examples of art nouveau architecture.

For a gallery and art dealer that offers online auctions, collector, paintings, collectibles, and antiques contact Türel Art.

Levant Koleksiyon sells ephemera, antique books, postcards, engravings, and other items.

Walking Tours

These art walking tours can be a lot of fun on a nice day:

StreetartWalk is a relatively new event introduced by Artwalk Istanbul in the summer of 2015.

In collaboration with the Mural Istanbul Festival, Artwalk Istanbul explores the art that has become lost and secluded in the city’s public spaces.

The Contemporary Art Walk will take you through the backstreets of Beyoglu to show you the type of talent that Istanbul has hidden beneath the surface.

Sculptures & Statues

Framing art supply stores Istanbul lessons near you studios

You may also be interested in taking photos of these statues and sculptures:

  • Taksim Republic Statue at Şehit Muhtar, Cumhuriyet Anıtı
  • Kadıköy Bull Statue at Sogutlu Cesme Cd 61
  • Sarayburnu Atatürk Statue at Cankurtaran Sarayburnu
  • Eagle Statue at Sinanpaşa, Mumcu Bakkal Sokağı 10
  • Fatih Sultan Mehmet Anıtı at Zeyrek, Fatih Anıt Parkı

The Taksim Republic Monument was built in 1928 and is one of the cities most photographed monuments due to its central location in Taksim Square.

The Bull Statue in Kadköy is a symbol of the local Asian side which can be found at Kadköy Altyol in the heart of an intersection that joins six roads, Altyol, making the Kadköy Bull Statue one of the areas busiest meeting sites.

Austrian artist Heinrich Krippel created the first statue of Atatürk in the Sarayburnu area in 1926.

The Eagle is a well-known contemporary statue representing the Besiktas eagle, the local soccer team’s mascot.

Fatih Sultan Mahmed was the Ottoman Sultan who defeated the Byzantines and the monument is in the heart of the city just in front of the great mosque.

Istanbul Art Classes

Whether you are trying to find private lessons or group classes for kids, teens, or adults the best Istanbul art schools are:

Suadiye Art Workshops were divided into painting, woodworking, pottery, art materials, and glassworking.

At Turkish Arts you may create your own art masterpieces in as little as two hours or as long as you desire and for the class all materials will be given and their courses are held in private.

Les Arts Turcs was created by a group of painters, photographers, artists, musicians, journalists, tour guides, and business owners offering painting, henna, ebru print, and calligraphy classes as well as Turkish food workshops and testing trips while also having a permanent display of paintings, statuettes, and art at its Sultanahmet location.

Painter Bahadir Yusuf founded Anatolia Sanat who has their own workshop but who also serves as a meeting place for many local and international painters, marbling artists, tile, ceramics, calligraphers, photographers, and educational activities.

Fine arts are taught at ERC Akademi where the aptitude examinations assess students’ technical and general cultural understanding of the department they wish to attend in addition to their drawing and artistic creative ability.

Studios For Rent Near You

Arthere Istanbul at Rasimpaşa, Beydağı Sk 3 A is a multicultural area at the intersection of Europe and Asia that offers a custom-made residency program. It was made available to artists, researchers, curators, and writers of all backgrounds and levels of expertise in many areas of arts and culture.

Zilberman Gallery may also have studio space available in your area.

Framing

Some of the top places for art framing in Istanbul are:

Erturk began operations around the turn of the twentieth century when the firm had imported its first glass into the Turkish market. Today they have the largest framework and painting showroom in the country measuring 2,500 square meters.

Dam Art has been committed to art since 1995 providing photo printing, display applications, art frames, mirrors, posters, canvas painting, and digital poster or canvas printing.

For about 20 years Çerçeveci Doğan Cam has been operating in the framing industry with exceptional service and they are experts in canvas print tables as well as wood and plastic frame types.

In 1989 Olga Frame took the lead in the frame and mementos industry while servicing clients through a 4-story showroom and a 300 square meter warehouse in Istanbul along with a 2-story showroom in Ankara.

Since 1994 Titanik Çerçeve has been functioning in numerous areas of the city. They carefully frame transfer print paintings on canvas as well as many famous artists and adorn them with finishing and embossing choices while also providing frame service to your own paintings and pictures if necessary.

By the way we have also discussed local art in:

Have Fun Enjoying The Istanbul Art Scene

We tried to mention as much as we know about the local art scene near you. You learned about the best galleries, museums, events, shows, supply stores, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures, classes, studios, and framers in your area and around Turkey.

Anyone that made it this far probably knows a lot about the local art scene. Feel free to share your own tips, or to let us know if you noticed anything incorrect in the comments.

Have fun going to the galleries, museums, buying supplies, or doing anything that has to do with art in Istanbul!

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This post and all of the posts on our site are edited by Dan Soloman who has been a huge fan of art since he was a little kid. His mother was a good local artist, and she taught him the trade from a very early age. He studied art and its history in both high school and college, has worked at multiple galleries, and recently has begun creating and editing online content for this site and some other online media platforms.

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