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Roman Bilinski

  • At the beginning of the 1920s, a member of the Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople, Roman Bilinski was known as a sculptor. At the end of the 1920s–beginning of the 1930s – as a sculptor, painter and connoisseur of local antiques.
  • Roman
  • Bilinski
  • Роман Билинский, Roman Biliński, Roman Bilinsky, Bilinski, Роман Белинский as well as Балинский (incorrectly but very common)

  • 15-07-1897
  • L'viv (UA)
  • 28-03-1981
  • Bordighera (IT)
  • PainterSculptorCollectorArt restorer
  • At the beginning of the 1920s, a member of the Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople, Roman Bilinski was known as a sculptor. At the end of the 1920s–beginning of the 1930s – as a sculptor, painter and connoisseur of local antiques.

    Word Count: 42

  • Self-portrait by Roman Bilinski. Turkey, 1936 (Private Archive of Diana Bilinski).
  • Roman Bilinski was born into a wealthy family in Lviv on July 15, 1897. From a young age, he was fond of painting and had a special interest in depicting flowers and plants. After receiving artistic education at academies in Lviv and Krakow, he studied at the Kiev Art Institute (the portrait of Leon Trotsky by Bilinski belongs to this period). It is highly likely that, there, he met Dimitri Ismailovitch, who was also in Kiev at the height of the revolution. One of the reasons for Bilinski’s departure to Constantinople was the assassination of his father in Lviv.

    According to Italian sources, Bilinski lived in Istanbul for approximately fifteen years starting from 1920. In the 1920s, a member of the Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople, he was known as a sculptor. His most famous work at the time was the bust of the émigré painter Dimitri Ismailovitch, presented in the summer of 1922 at the first major exhibition of the Union. In one of the private archives, there is a picture showing the three: Roman Bilinski, Dimitri Ismailovitch and his bust.
    As a sculptor, Bilinski is also mentioned in the anniversary catalog on exhibitions by the Turkish Fine Arts Union. Apart from him, only a few local sculptors and the émigré Iraida Barry are listed there. A Pole by origin, Bilinski actively mingled with representatives of the Polish “circle” in Istanbul. For instance, he painted portraits of Polish diplomats and created a monument to the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz in Polonezköy ("Polish" village on the Asian side of Istanbul). On 11 June, 1934, Roman Bilinski opened his personal exhibition at the Polish center in Taksim, Sıraselviler. One of the artworks presented at this exhibition was a bust of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In addition, on 21 July of the same year, along with local artists and such “ecnebiler” (Turkish for “foreigners”) as émigré artists Nikolai Kalmykoff and Nikolai Peroff, he presented eight of his sculptures at the Galatasaray exhibition. An important detail is that in addition to Bilinski’s works, this exhibition featured six sculptures by Melek Celal Sofu, a progressive Turkish female artist who once created a bust of Roman Bilinski. It is known that Bilinski was always well received at her house, a huge köşk on Moda Çayırı (Kadıköy), where not only artists but also writers and poets used to gather. Among the regular guests of the house were writer and poet Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, writer Abdülhak Şinasi, intellectual Hamdullah Suphi, art historian Burhan Toprak, painter and art historian Celal Esat Arseven, French painter Léopold Lévy, French architect and designer Louis Süe, French art historian and archeologist Albert-Louis Gabriel, German sculptor Rudolf Belling. Of great interest is also information from Italian sources, according to which Bilinski taught at the Robert College (now Boğaziçi University where Traugott Fuchs worked starting from 1943) for a period of time. The Italian sources also reveal, that Bilinski  was commissioned by Kemal Atatürk to supervise the restoration of Hagia Sophia where Nikolai Kluge had been working under the direction of Thomas Whittemore and to organize the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum by collecting objects all over Turkey to enrich the museum’s collection. As for the latter, Bilinski is indeed known as a passionate lover and connoisseur of local antiques. Since he was registered at the Polish Consulate, unlike many other émigré artists from the former Russian Empire, Bilinski was able to move freely around the country and he acquired a fairly significant collection of various items, from ceramics to carpets (presumably, these were the items that were captured in the works by Dimitri Ismailovitch). Many of them could be seen in his Istanbul apartment, where he lived with his second partner, French artist Claire Duriez. A photograph of the apartment has been preserved in the artist's family archive.

    The further fate of this sculptor, artist and restorer took a rather unexpected turn, as is often the case with artists from the former Russian Empire. According to Marco Farotto, author of the book Roman Bilinski - Un artista cosmopolita nel Ponente ligure whose family members were friends of Bilinski and his third wife Marcella Conte, the artist was at work in Yugoslavia when World War II began. After the war, in 1946, he settled first in Camogli and, in 1949, in Bordighera. At one point, Bilinski was a portrait painter for German author Thomas Mann’s family. According to Italian sources, Bilinski ended up in Italy because he joined the Anders’ Army with the rank of Captain of the Red Cross. He died from a heart attack on 26 March, 1981. Roman Bilinski's last painting was called Mimosa Cascade.

    Word Count: 780

  • Painter Dimitri Ismailovitch with his bust created by Polish sculptor Roman Bilinski, Istanbul, Summer 1922. Source: Scrapbook “To Mr. and Mrs. Stearns from Russian Painters”, p. 8 (Stearns Family Papers. Archives & Special Collections. The College of the Holy Cross).
    Formal letter of thanks to Martha Stearns from the members of the Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople, 1922. One of the signatures is Roman Bilinski’s. Source: Scrapbook “To Mr. and Mrs. Stearns from Russian Painters”, p. 9 (Stearns Family Papers. Archives & Special Collections. The College of the Holy Cross).
    Bilinski's monument to the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz in Polonezköy was demolished but its plaque has been preserved (Postcard from Polonezköy, 2021).
    Adampol (Polonezköy) by Roman Bilinski (Private Archive of Diana Bilinski).
    Adampol (Polonezköy) by Roman Bilinski. Turkey, 1935 (Private Archive of Diana Bilinski).
    Adampol (Polonezköy) by Roman Bilinski. Turkey, 1936 (Private Archive of Diana Bilinski).
    Adampol (Polonezköy) by Roman Bilinski. Turkey, 1936 (Private Archive of Diana Bilinski).
    Adampol (Polonezköy) by Roman Bilinski. Turkey, 1936 (Private Archive of Diana Bilinski).
    Adampol (Polonezköy) by Roman Bilinski. Turkey, 1936 (Private Archive of Diana Bilinski).
    Work by Roman Bilinski. Turkey, 1936 (Private Archive of Diana Bilinski).
    Work by Roman Bilinski. Yugoslavia, 1936 (Private Archive of Diana Bilinski).
    The cover of the book by Marco Farotto, Roman Bilinski - Un artista cosmopolita nel Ponente ligure. According to the author, Bilinski used to walk around dressed in this way.
    The Metromod Team expresses deep gratitude to Luigi Capello for his invaluable assistance throughout the project in researching and exploring the life and artistic endeavors of his grandfather, Roman Bilinski.
  • Anonymous. “Odnodnevnaya vystavka kartin.” Presse du Soir, 10 October 1921, p. 4.

    Anonymous. "Russkoye Iskusstvo Za Granitsey, Konstantinopol'." Teatr i Jizn’, no.7, January 1922, n.p.

    Anonymous. “Vystavka Soyuza Russkih Hudojnikov.” Presse du Soir, 19 June 1922, n.p.

    Anonymous. "L'exposition de peinture de la Caserne Mc Mahon." Journal D'Orient, 7 July 1922, n.p.

    Anonymous. "Polonez köyünde bir abide." Milliyet, 13 December 1933, p.3.

    Anonymous. "Bir resim sergisi." Milliyet, 11 June 1934, p. 6.

    Anonymous. "Galatasaray Resim sergisi." Milliyet, 22 July 1934, p. 6.

    Anonymous. "18 inci resim sergisi." Cumhuriyet, 22 July 1934, p. 5.

    Anonymous. "Roman Bilinski. Una vita fantastica." bordighera.it, https://www.bordighera.it/cultura/artisti/bilinski. Accessed 29 August 2021.

    Eraslan Taşpınar, Şeyda. "Türk Resim Sanatının Öncü Kadın Ressamları." Mimoza, June 2015, p. 14.

    Word Count: 113

  • Private Archive of Diana Bilinski (Italy).

    Private Archive of Dimitri Ismailovitch that belongs to Eduardo Mendes Cavalcanti (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

    Archives & Special Collections, The College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Massachusetts).

    Slavonic Library (Slovanská knihovna) in Prague.

    Word Count: 39

  • I wish to express my most sincere gratitude to Luigi Capello and Diana Bilinski for their enormous help. I am also very grateful to Marco Farotto for his valuable assistance. Finally I would like to thank Eduardo Mendes Cavalcanti and the representatives of the Archives & Special Collections at the College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Massachusetts).

    Word Count: 57

  • Ekaterina Aygün
  • Bursa Street 40 (now Sadri Alışık 40), Beyoğlu, Istanbul (studio); Küçük Yazıcı 4 (now presumably Tarlabaşı Blv. 79), Hüseyinağa, Beyoğlu, Istanbul (studio); Polish Consulate, Nişantaşı, Cabi Street 12 (now Rumeli Caddesi, Şişli), Istanbul; Adampol/Polonezköy, Istanbul.

  • Istanbul
  • Ekaterina Aygün. "Roman Bilinski." METROMOD Archive, 2021, https://archive.metromod.net/viewer.p/69/2949/object/5138-12057969, last modified: 29-05-2023.
  • Dimitri Ismailovitch
    PainterArt Historian
    Istanbul

    In Istanbul, Ismailovitch became one of the leaders of the Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople, organised three solo exhibitions, and made contribution to the study of Byzantine art.

    Word Count: 29

    First Russian émigré artists in Istanbul exhibition
    Exhibition
    Istanbul

    The first Russian-speaking émigré artists in Istanbul exhibition was a one-day event but its success led to the formation of the Union and paved the way for other exhibitions.

    Word Count: 29

    Exhibition of Russian émigré artists at Taksim Military Barracks
    Exhibition
    Istanbul

    The exhibition of Russian-speaking émigré artists at Taksim Military Barracks was the first major exhibition organised by the Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople.

    Word Count: 24

    Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople
    Association
    Istanbul

    The Union existed for less than two years but in that short space of time a tremendous amount of work was done by its members, refugees from the Russian Empire.

    Word Count: 30

    Konstantinopol’skiy Kommercheskiy Klub
    Club
    Istanbul

    KKK was probably the most popular Russian club in Beyoğlu district between 1924 and 1926. Not only Russian émigrés but also local residents could enjoy its constantly updated entertainment programme.

    Word Count: 30

    Leon Trotsky
    Politician
    Istanbul

    Banished by Stalin, the revolutionary politician Leon Trotsky and his entourage arrived in Istanbul in 1929. He settled on Büyükada, one of the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara.

    Word Count: 31

    Rudolf Belling
    Sculptor
    Istanbul

    As a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts and Technical University in Istanbul from 1937 until 1966, Rudolf Belling taught his students the technicalities of form, material and proportion.

    Word Count: 28

    Iraida Barry
    Sculptor
    Istanbul

    After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Barry settled in Istanbul, where she lived until her death. She is remembered as one of the first female sculptors of the Turkish Republic.

    Word Count: 29

    Nikolai Kluge
    PainterPhotographerArt restorerArchaeologistCopyist
    Istanbul

    As a non-regular employee at the Russian Archaeological Institute of Constantinople before the Russian Revolution, Nikolai Kluge was perhaps the émigré artist most familiar with Istanbul.

    Word Count: 26

    Nikolai Peroff
    PainterArt restorerIconographerChoir DirectorCharitable Society’s ChairmanScene Designer
    Istanbul

    Nikolai Peroff lived in Istanbul until the end of his life. He was engaged in restorations, carried out scene decorations, and did a lot for the Russian churches in Karaköy.

    Word Count: 31

    Nikolai Kalmykoff
    PainterScene DesignerMuralist
    Istanbul

    Kalmykoff played an active part in the Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople and at the same time worked as a stage designer. Later he acquired the Turkish citizenship.

    Word Count: 29

    Traugott Fuchs
    PhilologistRomanistPoetPainter
    Istanbul

    Traugott Fuchs was a multi-talented philologist, painter and poet who lived in Istanbul from 1934 until the end of his life in 1997.

    Word Count: 21