ART: Showcasing American Art in Turkey

Ambassador Ricciardone explains the “ART in Embassies” program, and describes his favorite piece in the collection.

Ambassador and Dr. Ricciardone on May 26 unveiled an exhibition of American art work loaned to the Embassy as part of the U.S. Department of State’s “ART in Embassies Program.” The exhibition showcases paintings, glass, ceramics and Turkish calligraphy by American artists working on their own or in collaboration with Turkish artists. Before an audience of Ankara’s art crowd, Ambassador Ricciardone explained that the exhibited art work reflects their personal taste in art with the intention of underlining another aspect of US-Turkish friendship. Ambassador Ricciardone said that they have enjoyed collecting natural artifacts and varied works of art and crafts privately during their previous sojourns in Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Italy, Iran and Iraq, with the thought that those works would bring together people from all races, religions and geographies. Ambassador Ricciardone explains the “ART in Embassies” program here, and describes his favorite piece in the collection here. You can read about the entire collection here.

About the Artists: Margaret Ross-Tolbert’s travels in Turkey, and the people whom she met there, directly inspired her work and her continuing collaboration with Hülya Ertan, a Turkish weaver and embroiderer, and Semra Durmus in Kutahya. Karen Koblitz specializes in terra cotta techniques drawn from the Italian Renaissance master Luca Della Robbia, and has produced works inspired by the Turkish-Persian-Azeri Leyla and Majnun Epic. Her Tree of Life for My Daughter adapts that classic Turkish motif, which appears throughout Ambassador and Dr. Ricciardone’s home in Turkish ceramics and carpets. Roger Thomas’ luminescent work in fused glass draws into their home the lovely gardens outside, with natural subjects reflecting the woodlands both of Turkey and of the US. The glass sculpture of Robert Phillips, from their home state of Massachusetts, recalls the ancient art and artisanship of working glass, developed millennia ago in Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Likewise, the glass Mega Planets and Inhabited Vase of Josh Simpson, also of Massachusetts, remind of Ambassador and Dr. Ricciardone’s experience over so many years of the flora and fauna of the seas and shores of Turkey, and of those more distant they’ve had the good fortune to explore. Simpson’s art evokes the impressions that his wife, an American astronaut, gathered in outer space. Calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya, a neighbor of them in Arlington, Virginia, enriched his craft in Istanbul under the Turkish masters Hasan Celebi and Ali Alparslan.

ART in Embassies, US Ambassador’s Collection, Ankara

Hoş Geldiniz!

Welcome to our home, and to the exhibition of American art that we have been privileged to select through the U.S. Department of State’s ART in Embassies Program. We have chosen works which we feel serve to bring together people from across geography, time, cultures, languages and religions. Artist Margaret Ross Tolbert’s travels in Turkey, and the people whom she met here, directly inspired her work and her continuing collaboration with Hülya Ertan, a Turkish weaver and embroiderer, and Semra Durmus in Kutahya. Karen Koblitz specializes in terra cotta techniques drawn from the Italian Renaissance master Luca della Robbia, and has produced works inspired by the Turkish-Persian-Azeri Leyla and Majnun epic. Her Tree of Life for My Daughter adapts that classic Turkish motif, which appears throughout our home in Turkish ceramics and carpets. Roger Thomas’ luminescent work in fused glass draws into our home the lovely gardens outside, with natural subjects reflecting the woodlands both of Turkey and of our country. The glass sculpture of Robert Phillips, from our home state of Massachusetts, recalls the ancient art and artisanship of working glass, developed millennia ago in Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Likewise, the glass Mega Planets and Inhabited Vase of Josh Simpson, also of Massachusetts, remind us of our experience over so many years of the flora and fauna of the seas and shores of Turkey, and of those more distant we’ve had the good fortune to explore. Mohamed Zakariya, a Washington, D.C. area Islamic calligrapher and artist, enriched his craft in Istanbul under the Turkish masters Hasan Çelebi and Ali Alparslan.

We invite you also to enjoy the natural artifacts and works of art and crafts that we have collected privately during our sojourns through Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Italy, Iran and Iraq.

We hope you will return often to our home – her zaman bekleriz!

Ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone and
Marie D. Ricciardone

Ankara
May, 2011

• ART in Embassies, US Ambassador’s Collection, Ankara (PDF 949 KB)