Cihat Aral

Cihat Aral was born in Kangal, Sivas in 1943. He studied at the Painting Department of the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts from 1964 to 1969. He had his first solo exhibition at the Taksim Art Gallery in 1970. In the same year, he went to France to study painting with a state scholarship.  Aral has had many solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions in Turkey and abroad. He went back to Turkey in 1985, and started teaching at his alma mater. Between 1976 and 1980, Aral served as a general secretary and chair in the Association of Visual Artists. He retired from the academy in 1984. Currently, he teaches at Mimar Sinan University and continues painting in Istanbul.

Reference: turkishpaintings.com, sanalmuze.tcmb.gov.tr, lebriz.com