Hedi Turki (15 May 1922 31 March 2019) was a

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

n artist of Turkish origin. He is considered to have been the pioneering force of abstract painting in Tunisia and was an influential member of the School of Tunis. His younger brother was Zoubeir Turki, who died in 2009.

Biography

Turki was born in 1922 in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

to a family of Turkish origin. His grandfather, Hacı Hamid Semerci, immigrated from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in 1870 as an Ottoman army major. Turki attended his primary education from 1928 to 1936, then went to the Sadiki College, before going to the

Lycée Carnot The Lycée Carnot () is a public secondary and higher education school at 145 Boulevard Malesherbes in the 17th arrondissement, Paris, France. The Lycée Carnot was founded in 1869, first bearing the name of École Monge and then renamed in 1 ...

between 1936 and 1940. He abandoned his studies after the death of his father, Mustapha, in 1939, in order to support his family as he was the eldest of seven brothers. He worked in numerous odd jobs such as an apprentice tailor, clerk, and laborer in oil mill. He married Jamila Skhiri in 1948 after the death of his mother in 1945. He began to learn the principles of pictorial art, self-taught, and then joined the School of Tunis. In 1951 he completed a refresher course of two months in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

at the

Academie de la Grande Chaumiere An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. Then he obtained a scholarship for two years (1956-1657) at the Academy of Fine Arts in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. In 1959, he traveled for three months in the United States, where he discovered th

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. From 1963 to his retirement in 1985, he taught art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Tunis. He continued to travel and to study and work during his career, particularly in England (1971),

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

(1977) and the United States (1979). Turki was instrumental in the founding of the School of Tunis, the establishment of the National Union of plastic and graphic arts of Tunisia, and the General Union of Arab Plastic Artists. His work evolved over time, a nationalist vocation at first, usually figurative like most members of the School of Tunis, it was then influenced by

Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

, as inspired by his trip to the United States. Two American painters influenced Turki:

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...

(1912–1956) and

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...

(1913–1970). Nonetheless, Turki's abstract style was marked by a deep sense of Tunisia and a somewhat religious aspect, which distinguishes it from other artists of his time. Hedi Turki died on March 31, 2019, aged 96.

References

1922 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Tunisian painters 20th-century Turkish painters 21st-century Tunisian painters 21st-century Turkish painters Alumni of Sadiki College Tunisian people of Turkish descent Turkish artists Tunisian expatriates in Italy {{Tunisia-bio-stub