For an extended period, the very notion of venturing into the public eye without the protective shield of a hat was anathema to me, filled with a level of apprehension that bordered on the unbearable.

Few painters saw Istanbul as Burhan Uygur did, with a mix of tenderness and defiance. Born in 1940 in the Black Sea town of Tirebolu, Uygur studied under poet-artist Bedri Rahmi Eyuboglu at the Fine ...