Biography
Turkish painter Salih Acar was born in Plovdiv in 1927. After completing his primary and secondary education in Plovdiv, he studied fresco painting at the Sofia Academy of Fine Arts (1945-1950). In 1950, he came to Istanbul and entered the Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts. He also participated in sculpture studies in Zühtü Müridoğlu's studio for two years. After graduating from the Academy, he devoted himself to his art career without taking any official position. Meanwhile, he joined the Turkish Painters Association. He focused on large panel works and decorative paintings. He also created fresco paintings; he drew engravings and designs, and won competitions for the Ephesus and Tarabya Hotel, applying fresco and sgraffito techniques to the walls of these buildings. He participated in various mural painting projects in major cities. In addition to painting, he also tried his hand at sculpture. Salih ACAR held his first solo exhibition in 1955. Until 1966, he generally produced works based on a stylized approach to regional peasant figures, prioritizing a surface-based, decorative, and linear narrative. In these works, he reflected rural life with a realistic and illustrative perspective. After 1966, he began studying nature and researching his surroundings, and from that time on, his paintings focused on birds, seas, forests, fish, and all living creatures in nature. He closely examined bird species such as wild ducks, cranes, storks, eagles, crows, and herons, and depicted them in separate series as special subjects that constitute different periods of his art. Participating in the work of the Turkish Nature Conservation Foundation as an artist, Salih ACAR strived to protect and preserve endangered bird species. He played an important role in making the plight of the bald ibis, whose numbers are dwindling day by day and who are facing the threat of extinction in the Birecik region of Urfa, a current issue.
