Ayetullah Sümer was born in İzmir in 1905. After completing his primary and secondary education in İzmir, he went to France in 1925. While continuing his studies at the Marseille School of Commerce, he developed an interest in painting and joined Théophile Bérengier’s studio at the Marseille School of Fine Arts until 1927. In 1928, he held his first solo exhibition at the İzmir Türk Ocağı and decided to devote himself entirely to art. That same year, he traveled to Paris on a state scholarship and worked on frescoes with Paul-Albert Baudoüin, head of the fresco workshop at L’École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts.

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After returning to Türkiye, Sümer settled in Istanbul and established a fresco workshop at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts in 1938. He served as a faculty member there until 1971 and continued teaching. In 1939, he was selected as one of the painters for the People’s Republican Party’s National Tours. During this tour, he traveled to Afyon, where he produced sketches and paintings. In 1943, he exhibited his works in his apartment in Şişli and, together with his students, formed an art group called the “As Group.”

Ayetullah Sümer is known for his realistic portraits, but his works generally feature landscapes and still lifes that evoke a hazy, desolate, and mystical atmosphere. The hazy atmospheres and dominant dark tones in his paintings have been interpreted as reflecting the artist’s pessimistic and introspective worldview. Among his major works are “A View of Istanbul – 1943,” “Books: The Fairy Tale of Life – 1951,” and “Copper Vessels – 1955.” These works are held at the Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture. Ayetullah Sümer died in Istanbul in 1979. After his death, in 1983, he was awarded the Osman Hamdi Honorary Award as part of the centennial celebrations of the Academy’s founding.