Elgiz Museum

The Elgiz Museum was Turkey’s first contemporary art museum and was founded in 2001 by art collectors Sevda and Can Elgiz.

The Elgiz are among Turkey’s most prolific art collectors. Dr. Elgiz is an architect/civil engineer and land developer. His wife Dr. Sevda Elgiz is a political scientist graduated from Università Cattolica in Milan who takes care of the Elgiz Collection. Their two daughters, Ayda and Canda, are also collectors. The museum shows a permanent selection from the Elgiz Collection and hosts temporary exhibitions.

They have turned their collection into a museum, where many contemporary exhibitions are held with the desire to support emerging artists in the contemporary arts field whilst hosting pioneering artists globally.

The Elgiz collection consists of a wide range of contemporary art in different media. There are works by; Louise Bourgeois, Tony Cragg, Jan Fabre, Eric Fischl, Fausto Gilberto, Gilbert & George, Tony Cragg, Cindy Sherman, Tracey Emin, Liam Gillick, Nan Goldin, Barbara Kruger, Sol LeWitt, Paul McCarthy, Sarah Morris, Jonathan Meese, Marcus Oehlen, Alex Prager, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerard Richter, Julian Schnabel, David Salle, Hiroshi Sugito, Gavin Turk, Xavier Veilhan, Andy Warhol and important Turkish artists like Ergin Çavuşoğlu (whose work was recently acquired by the Guggenheim), Mehmet Gün, Mehmet Güleryüz, Gülsün Karamustafa, Azade Köker and Hale Tenger.

This a small sampling of their collection. Recently, they acquired works by Chiharu Shiota, Wang Xiaoshuang, Rose Morant, Erwin Wurm and Marriane Vitale. They are always acquiring and this ensures that their collection is fluid and constantly evolving.