Mehmet Başbuğ1956–2017

Mehmet Başbuğ (1956 Diyarbakır – 2017 Bishkek) was one of the defining Turkish painters of his generation. He studied painting at Gazi University in Ankara, where he also earned his doctorate, and taught at several faculties of fine arts, most recently at Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University in Bishkek as dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and head of the Department of Painting.

He showed his work in more than 80 solo exhibitions in Turkey and abroad and received 18 awards. His paintings are held in the collections of the Turkish Presidency, the Grand National Assembly, the State Museum of Painting and Sculpture in Ankara and the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, which issued his painting "63" as a silver commemorative coin in 2017. In 2015 he became a permanent member of the Kyrgyz Academy of Arts.