Ankara Painting and Sculpture Museum

The Ankara Painting and Sculpture Museum is housed in one of the most magnificent examples of the First National Architectural Movement. Constructed between 1927 and 1930 as the Central Building of the Turkish Hearths, it stands proudly on Namazgâh Hill, shaping the silhouette of central Ankara. The project won the 1926 architectural competition and was designed by Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu, who also built the adjacent Ethnography Museum under the direction of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Atatürk expressed his admiration for the building, famously saying: “I do not want to leave this place. May the hands that built it be blessed.” The museum’s interior is equally striking: the Turkish Hall, decorated personally by Koyunoğlu with rich traditional motifs; the ornate concert hall; and the galleries where priceless works of art are displayed with modern exhibition techniques.

The building was officially allocated to the Ministry of Culture’s Directorate General of Fine Arts in December 1975 to serve as the Painting and Sculpture Museum. Restored under the supervision of its architect, Koyunoğlu, it opened to the public as a museum on 2 April 1980. Since then, it has played a dynamic role in Ankara’s cultural life, hosting the Asia-Europe Art Biennial, numerous national and international exhibitions, symposia, conferences, meetings, and concerts.

Among the first works registered in the museum’s collection were masterpieces transferred from the Ministry of National Education in 1976, including:

• Osman Hamdi Bey’s “The Arms Dealer”,
• V. Vereshchagin’s “At the Tomb of Timur”,
• Zonaro’s “Portrait of a Young Girl”,
• Emel Cimcoz (Korutürk)’s “The Gratitude of the Turkish Child to Atatürk”.

Following extensive restoration and modernization efforts initiated in December 2019—covering both the building and its artworks—the museum reopened on 28 December 2020 with its new permanent exhibition “Masterpieces” and the artist-homage temporary exhibition “Timeless Traces”.

Today, the museum’s rich collection comprises 3,601 works, offering a comprehensive view of Turkish visual art from the late 19th century to the present. The collection, built through acquisitions, donations, and works awarded at State Painting and Sculpture Exhibitions, includes paintings, sculptures, ceramics, prints, Turkish decorative arts, and photographs. It stands as one of the most important archives documenting more than a century of artistic development in Türkiye.

From its founding to the present day, the Ankara Painting and Sculpture Museum has remained one of the city’s most significant cultural landmarks—an essential destination forart lovers, researchers, and visitors eager to explore the evolution of Turkish visual arts.