Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu (1911 – 21 September 1975) was a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, mosaic-maker, muralist, writer and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. His art work was inspired by Anatolian village scenes and folk literature, and included traditional handicraft folk patterns.

Early life

Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu was born in 1911 in

Görele Görele is a town and a district of Giresun Province on the Black Sea coast of eastern Turkey. The population was 16,033 in 2010. Geography The district is mainly mountainous and watered by streams and rivers running into the Black Sea, the h ...

on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

, the second child in a family with five. His elder brother,

Sabahattin Eyüboğlu Sabahattin Eyüboğlu (1908 – January 13, 1973) was a Turkish people, Turkish writer, essayist, translator and film producer. Biography Sabahatttin Eyüboğlu was born in 1908 on the Black Sea coast town of Akçaabat near Trabzon. His fat ...

, was a well-known writer and his younger sister,

Mualla Eyüboğlu Mualla Eyüboğlu Anhegger (March 13, 1919 – August 16, 2009) was one of the first female Turkish architects. She is known for her restoration work on the Topkapı Palace harem room and the Rumelihisarı in Istanbul. Early life and education ...

, was one of the first architects working in restoration and well known for her work on the

Harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

section of

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace ( tr, Topkapı Sarayı; ota, طوپقپو سرايى, ṭopḳapu sarāyı, lit=cannon gate palace), or the Seraglio A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from fa, سرای, sarāy, palace, via Turkish and Italian) i ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. Due to his father's position as a Governor, Eyüboğlu lived in various parts of Turkey before attending high school in

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the Bl ...

. In 1928, he started to write poetry. In 1929, he moved to Istanbul to enter the

Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University The Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University ( tr, Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi, or MSGSÜ) is a Turkish public university dedicated to higher education in the fine arts. It is located in the Fındıklı neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, Istanbu ...

(formerly Academy of Fine Arts, Istanbul).Orga, Atesh (ed.) (2007) "Istanbul: Portrait of a City" ''Istanbul: A Collection of the Poetry of Place'' Eland, London, p. 48, In 1931 he left the Academy temporarily to go to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

with his brother, studying French first in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

and then in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. He then studied at the Andre Lohte's studio in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he met his future wife,

Eren Eyüboğlu Eren Eyüboğlu ( née Ernestine Leibovici; 1913–1988) was a Romanian-born Turkish painter, ceramicist, and mosaic artist. She is considered one of the forerunners of modernism in Turkey. Biography Ernestine Leibovici was born on 5 February ...

(

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Ernestine Leibovici). They were married 1933. Eren organized his first one-man show at the Hasefer Gallery in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

in 1935. Back in Turkey, he completed his studies and obtained his diploma in 1936. In 1937, he entered the Academy as an assistant and translator of

Henri-Léopold Lévy Henri-Léopold Lévy (23 September 1840, Nancy - 29 December 1904, Paris) was a French painter of Jewish ancestry, known primarily for mythological and Biblical subjects. Biography He was the son of an interior decorator and embroidery manufac ...

. He remained at the Academy until his death in 1975. He was sent by the government to work in

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

in 1938 and then in

Çorum Çorum () (Medieval Greek: Ευχάνεια, romanized: Euchaneia) is a northern Anatolian city that is the capital of the Çorum Province of Turkey. Çorum is located inland in the central Black Sea Region of Turkey, and is approximately from ...

and Iskilip in 1942, a period that marked a turning point in his artistic career.

Career and mid-life

Eyüboğlu exhibited with the D Group of painters starting in 1936, and founded the Group of 10 for young painters. Impressed by the

Musée de l'Homme The Musée de l'Homme ( French, "Museum of Mankind" or "Museum of Humanity") is an anthropology museum in Paris, France. It was established in 1937 by Paul Rivet for the 1937 ''Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne' ...

's exhibition of

African art African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the African diasporas, su ...

on a second trip to Paris, he started using

woodblock printing Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...

in order to allow more people to see his work. He had an affair with artist Mari Gerekmezyan, while still he was married. Throughout the 1940s, Gerekmezyan assisted Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu in his artwork. Gerekmezyan died in 1947. Eyüboğlu was a prolific artist, both on canvas and in mosaic form. Early works include the

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es he painted for the Lido Restaurant in Istanbul in 1943, and a large panel he designed for the

Ankara Opera House Ankara Opera House ( tr, Opera Sahnesi) of the Turkish State Opera and Ballet is the largest of the three venues for opera and ballet in Ankara, Turkey, the other two being ''Leyla Gencer Sahnesi'' in Ostim and ''Operet Sahnesi'' (Operetta Theater) ...

in 1946. Various Eyüboğlu mosaic panels can be seen in Istanbul, for example in the İMC complex off Atatürk Bulvarı and in 4.Levent. He also prepared a panel of for the Brussels Fair in 1958, which was awarded first prize. In 1960, he made a panel for

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

headquarters in Paris, which was transferred to the headquarters in Brussels when France left NATO. He completed a

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

window composition at the Embassy of Turkey in

Bonn, Germany The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

. In 1960, he was invited to the United States on a

Rockefeller Rockefeller is a German surname, originally given to people from the village of Rockenfeld near Neuwied in the Rhineland and commonly referring to subjects associated with the Rockefeller family. It may refer to: People with the name Rockefeller fa ...

and a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

grant. Eyüboğlu was also guest professor at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Eyüboğlu taught at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, until his death. Notable students of his include

İbrahim Çallı İbrahim Çallı (13 July 1882 in Çal – 22 May 1960 in İstanbul) was a Turkish painter. He is popularly known as Çallı İbrahim. Biography İbrahim Çallı was born in Çal, Denizli. He showed early interest in painting during his primary ...

List of mosaic mural works

The Turkish Pavilion for Expo 58 Brussels (14646856526)

(1946), * Ankara Etibank (1953), * 4th Levent neighborhood, Istanbul, residential walls (1956–1957), * (1955), * Hacettepe Hospital (1954–1955), *

Expo 58 Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...

, a world fair in Brussels, mosaics for the Turkish Pavilion (1958), * Istanbul Manifaturacılar Sitesi (Draftsmen Site) mosaic panels (1963–1965), *

Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa is a public university which was formed in Istanbul on 18 May 2018. It takes its name from Cerrah Mehmed Pasha, who gave its name to the Cerrahpaşa, Fatih district in Istanbul. It has nine faculties, six Instit ...

(1978), *

Haydarpaşa Haydarpaşa is a neighborhood within the Kadıköy and Üsküdar districts on the Asian part of Istanbul, Turkey. Haydarpaşa is named after Ottoman Vizier Haydar Pasha. The place, on the coast of Sea of Marmara, borders to Harem in the northwest ...

Chest Diseases Hospital (1979).

Written works

Beside his artistic work, Bedri Rahmi was also a writer whose work appeared in various literary reviews and in the newspaper ''

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: " Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Pres ...

'', where he had a weekly art column from 1952 to 1958. His first published poem, ''Yaradana Mektup'' (''Letter to the Creator''), was published in 1941. His second book ''Karadut'' (''Black Mulberry'') was published in 1948. One of his best known poems if The Saga of Istanbul (''Istanbul Destanı)''. Other poetry books are as follows: *''Tuz'' 1952 *''Üçü Birden'', 1953 *''Dördü Birden'', 1956 *''Karadut 69'', 1969 *''Dol Karabakır Dol'', 1974 *''Yaşadım'', 1977 *''Tezek''

Death and legacy

Eyüboğlu died on 21 September 1975 from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

. He was laid to rest in the

Küçükyalı Küçükyalı is one of the neighborhoods of İstanbul on the Asian side and governed by the Maltepe municipality. The neighborhood is on the coast of the Marmara Sea. Transport ;Metro * M4 Kadıköy Kadıköy (), known in classical antiquit ...

Cemetery in Istanbul. His work can be seen in the

Istanbul Modern ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

art gallery in

Galataport Galataport is a mixed-use development located along of shore in the Karaköy neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey on the European shore of the Bosporus strait near its confluence with the Golden Horn right in the heart of the city. It includes the ...

, and in various museums in the United States and Europe including

Grey Art Gallery The Grey Art Gallery is New York University’s fine art museum, located on historic Washington Square Park, in New York City's Greenwich Village. As a university art museum, the Grey Art Gallery functions to collect, preserve, study, document, in ...

. Posthumously in 1976, Eyüboğlu was selected as "artist of the year" by

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a Turkish daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 ...

newspaper.

References

External links

Turkoloji.cu.edu.tr

Biography
* https://web.archive.org/web/20080706033255/http://www.bedrirahmi.com/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20080325092236/http://www.eyubogluailesi.org/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20071031004426/http://www.eyubogullari.org/eb {{DEFAULTSORT:Eyüboğlu, Bedri Rahmi 1911 births People from Görele Bedri Rahmi 1975 deaths Turkish poets Turkish columnists Turkish writers Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul alumni Academic staff of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Turkey Fresco painters 20th-century poets 20th-century Turkish painters