Sadi Calik "Living In Order to Create Sculpture Where There is None" | Monuments

Sadi Calik has a special understanding of a symbolic indivuality and unity in the relatioship between space and mass. In particular, the attitude seen in his monumental works seems like a new interpretation of the symbolic significance. The influential impression of minimalism and unity, begun in the model for his 1953 "Memorial to the Unknown Political Prisoner", is seen throughout almost all of his work whether figurative or abstract, especially in the "METU Ataturk Memorial" and the work finished in 1979 for the "Turkish National Assembly Ataturk Memorial Competition".

The "METU Ataturk Memorial" placed on top of a hill is in the form of a flat round stone. It is the first modern sculpture ever made in Turkey and is an example of the synthesis of a contemporary monument and sculpture. It was able to be realized in 1966 through the help of farsighted and enlightened architects. The Galatasaray "50th Anniversary Monument" in the shape of an arrow reaching to the sky is symbolic of development and progress and a memorial in witness of three generations of Istanbul inhabitants.

The sculpture he designed for the "Turkish National Assembly Ataturk Memorial" is a circle raised into the air above columns. Underneath the columns people may walk or sit. The memorial creates a half-open area where people may spend their time. It is a sculpture to be looked at from the outside and appreciated from the inside. Orhan Ozguner saw in Sadi Calik´s attitude a similarity with that of the famous architect Louis Kahn who remarked "I do not represent a movement through symbol, but if what I create has any worth it is in being symbolic of the times", difficult but it can be considered a more fundamental attitude. In the same way that there are examples of monumentality in nature, so a statue made by man, may through human love, become monumental like a part of nature.

Sadi Calik’s desire to go beyond the limits in his abstract designs for sculpture and monuments remained at the model stage for example in those many models he made for the Ataturk Memorials , as those who might have commissioned them made the excuse that they were too expensive. He was obliged to make his sculpture fit the understanding of the period. He had to synthesize his wish to sculpt and his desire to live in his native country with the prevailing exigencies of the market for art there at that time. From this point of view, his life-story is exactly like that of his teacher Rudolf Belling, and he would give his opinion at every opportunity on what he felt about the extent of the influence of the environment on an artist’s work.

In Sadi Calik’s works the factor of opposition, that is the positioning of the most abstract scuplture side by side with a classically figurative monument, even today not fully understood, should be examined within this framework. However, those who criticise his civilian figures of Ataturk and through their persistence in carrying on a memorialized and superficial image do not see the difference between these and the common or garden statues of Ataturk made much later, are creating a dangerous polemic which will harm the public. They enter into a totally calculated understanding of Ataturk’s statues, without seeing the mastery of Sadi Calik’s sculpture, its classic proportions, measurement and delicate rhythm, and what is worse, without doing any research. It is still a living tradition handed down through the centuries in every country to remember a beloved and admired individual by erecting a statue of that person. Whether the artist portrays the person in a naturalistic or abstract way is indicated by the attitudes of the time. What should not be forgotten is that art should be a part of and a reflection of the artist and the people of his times. Sadi Calik´s sculpture is a reflection of his struggles in life.

Siren Calik


Model, 1955 Only extant as photograph. Place and purpose unknown.
Plaster model of a memorial sculpture for a competition, 1958. Only extant as photoograph. Place and purpose unknown.
27 May Revolution Monument, 1960. Formerly in Lausanne Gate Area. Izmir Fair Grounds. Replaced In the 1980’s by a bronze double-figure sculpture of Ataturk with Ismet Inonu.
Eskisehir Ataturk Memorial, 1962. Bronze, marble, plaster.
Environmental design for Sakarya Ataturk Memorial, 1965. Following the 1999 earthquake, the surviving figure and plinth sculpted by Prof. Nusret Suman were preserved in the design for the surrounding ceremonial area.
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