{"id":394871,"date":"2026-01-07T23:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T23:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/394871\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T23:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T23:02:14","slug":"how-this-istanbul-power-couple-built-a-stunning-personal-art-haven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/394871\/","title":{"rendered":"How This Istanbul Power Couple Built a Stunning Personal Art Haven"},"content":{"rendered":"

Art Market<\/p>\n

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Portrait of Demet and Alphan M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli<\/p>\n

Interior view of Irini Karayannopoulou, Dark Luna, 2024. \u00a9ISTANBUL\u201974. Courtesy of Demet and Alphan M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli.<\/p>\n

For Demet M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli, collecting art is as much about creating a platform for artistic exchange as it is about populating her living space. <\/p>\n

In 2009, Demet and her filmmaker husband Alphan founded the art-and-culture organization ISTANBUL\u201974<\/a> and its annual IST.FESTIVAL, a program of art-minded discussions and presentations. Previous guests have included Jeff Koons<\/a>, Sheree Hovsepian<\/a>, Tilda Swinton, and Kirsten Dunst. <\/p>\n

From the outset, M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli and her husband didn\u2019t consider collecting art to be \u201cabout accumulation.\u201d Many of the works they own are the result of \u201cconnections,\u201d she noted: \u201cI\u2019m drawn to artists whose work carries emotion, narrative, and urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s collection features works by international names such as Nicolas Pol<\/a>, Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe<\/a>, Daniel Arsham<\/a>, Anton Corbijn<\/a>, and Robert Montgomery<\/a>, alongside Turkish artists including Ahmet Do\u011fu \u0130pek<\/a>, Ertu\u011frul G\u00fcng\u00f6r & Faruk Ertekin<\/a>, Mehmet Ali Uysal<\/a>, and Belk\u0131s Balp\u0131nar<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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Interior view of the M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli residence. \u00a9ISTANBUL\u201974. Courtesy of Demet and Alphan M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli.<\/p>\n

The couple resides in a former fisherman\u2019s house in Istanbul\u2019s quaint Kandilli neighborhood, where sounds of seagulls and ferries mingle from the nearby Bosphorus Strait. Designed by local architect Seyhan \u00d6zdemir Sarper, the three-story dwelling is an art-filled sanctuary for the globe-trotting duo, where art is hosted with an air of effortless swag. <\/p>\n

The sandy-hued tones, which hint at 1970s West Coast interiors, wash the dwelling with amber shades in furniture and carpeting. An Alexander Calder<\/a> mobile rests on the coffee table, not so far from a ceramic sculpture by their close friend and collaborator Jos\u00e9 Parl\u00e1<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Bodrum, Turkey-based textile artist Belk\u0131s Balp\u0131nar<\/a>\u2019s bow-shaped weaving, Balloon (2014), sits by the spiral staircase; Greek artist Irini Karayannopoulou<\/a>\u2019s collage painting, Dark Luna (2024), leans against a wall at an intimate corner, following the work\u2019s presentation in the artist\u2019s 2025 solo exhibition, \u201cLuna,\u201d at the swanky Istanbul members club Clubhouse Bebek. <\/p>\n

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Interior view of Belk\u0131s Balp\u0131nar, Balloon, 2014. \u00a9ISTANBUL\u201974. Courtesy of Demet and Alphan M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli. <\/p>\n

Interior view of Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe, Random Forest Collage, 2023. \u00a9 ISTANBUL\u201974. Courtesy of Demet and Alphan M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli.<\/p>\n

M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli\u2019s background as a curator and her collecting \u201chave informed each other deeply,\u201d she says. She organized the group exhibition \u201cNEARNESS: A Neighborhood Exhibition\u201d as part of the most recent edition of the IST.FESTIVAL last October with artworks by artists including Stefan Br\u00fcggemann<\/a> and Sheree Hovsepian<\/a> housed in venues including ISTANBUL\u201974<\/a>\u2019s headquarters and within some of the nearby businesses, such as a butchershop and a florist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something very personal about bringing an artist\u2019s work into your home, and at the same time, there\u2019s something very generous about sharing that energy with the public,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe artists I collect are often those I\u2019ve had the privilege to work with and build relationships with through ISTANBUL\u201974,\u201d M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli added. Parl\u00e1, for example, has participated in various festival iterations as a speaker as well as a subject of a solo exhibition, titled \u201cISTHMUS,\u201d which M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli organized at a storefront in the city\u2019s bustling cobblestoned district, Akaretler, during the 2019 Istanbul Biennial. A few months later, they partnered with the New York\u2013based artist again for a booth at Untitled Art, Miami Beach<\/a>, where they presented the same series of ceramic vessels, one of which M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli currently owns. <\/p>\n

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Interior view of Jos\u00e9 Parl\u00e1, ISTHMUS CERAMIC 9, 2019. \u00a9ISTANBUL\u201974. Courtesy of Demet and Alphan M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli.<\/p>\n

The cross-pollination between different roles also lifts the curtain to the ways an artwork makes its way into the duo\u2019s private collection. \u201cI mostly acquire works directly from artists\u2014through studio visits, conversations, and relationships with the galleries,\u201d M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli said. <\/p>\n

Her advice to those new to art buying is unsurprising given her personal path: \u201cYou need to know the artist in person and understand the depth of their personality, which is what adds so much to their work,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Still, collecting art is often about accepting that some works get away<\/a>. M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli points to the early collage works of Angel Otero<\/a>, the Puerto Rico\u2013 and Brooklyn-based painter of textured, often collaged, abstractions. M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli partnered with the gallery Lehmann Maupin<\/a> in 2012 to present the painter\u2019s work at ISTANBUL\u201974\u2019s gallery space and it sold out before the opening. \u201cHis practice has only grown richer and more profound over the years, and it would have been so special to have one more of his early works from that moment in our shared history,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

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Interior view of the M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli residence. \u00a9ISTANBUL\u201974. Courtesy of Demet and Alphan M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli.<\/p>\n

Exterior view of the M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli residence. \u00a9ISTANBUL\u201974. Courtesy of Demet and Alphan M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli.<\/p>\n

M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli is a firm believer in the personal resonance of engaging in art, of being allowed into the world of an artist, and \u201cgaining access to their perspective.\u201d Owning a work of art is, for her, \u201cthe end point of that journey\u2014an artifact of that privilege.\u201d <\/p>\n

Whether in work, as a collector, or simply as an appreciator, art is the through line that unites the various aspects of M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli\u2019s life\u2014and owning an artwork still carries a unique thrill. \u201cIt\u2019s all part of the same rhythm\u2014living with art, working with art, and allowing it to shape how we see the world,\u201d M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli said. \u201cCollecting is a way of honoring that exchange.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Art Market Portrait of Demet and Alphan M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu E\u015feli Interior view of Irini Karayannopoulou, Dark Luna, 2024. \u00a9ISTANBUL\u201974.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,14272,356,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-394871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-collector-profiles","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}