Hedi Turki facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hedi Turki
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Portrait de Hédi Turki en 1980.
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| الهادي التركي | |
| Born | 15 May 1922  |
| Died | 31 March 2019 (aged 96) |
| Nationality | Tunisian |
| Occupation | Painter |
Hedi Turki (born May 15, 1922 – died March 31, 2019) was a famous artist from Tunisia. He was known for being one of the first artists to create abstract art in Tunisia. He was also an important member of a group called the School of Tunis. His younger brother, Zoubeir Turki, was also an artist.
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About Hedi Turki's Life
Hedi Turki was born in 1922 in Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia. His family originally came from Turkey. His grandfather, Hacı Hamid Semerci, moved from Turkey to Tunisia in 1870. He was an army major in the Ottoman Empire.
Early Life and Education
Hedi went to primary school from 1928 to 1936. After that, he attended Sadiki College and then Lycée Carnot until 1940. Sadly, his father passed away in 1939. Hedi was the oldest of seven brothers, so he stopped his studies to help support his family.
He took on many different jobs to earn money. He worked as an apprentice tailor, a clerk, and even a laborer in an oil mill. In 1945, his mother died. A few years later, in 1948, he married Jamila Skhiri.
Becoming an Artist
Hedi Turki started learning about art by himself. He then joined the School of Tunis, a group of artists. In 1951, he went to Paris, France, for two months to improve his art skills at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere.
He received a scholarship to study for two years (1956-1957) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Italy. In 1959, he traveled to the United States for three months. There, he learned about abstract art at Columbia University.
Teaching and Travel
From 1963 until he retired in 1985, Hedi Turki taught art. He worked at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Tunis. Even while teaching, he kept traveling to learn and work. He visited England in 1971, Nigeria in 1977, and the United States again in 1979.
His Artistic Style
Hedi Turki helped start the School of Tunis. He also helped create the National Union of plastic and graphic arts of Tunisia. He was involved in the General Union of Arab Plastic Artists too.
His art changed over time. At first, his paintings often showed real-life things, like many artists in the School of Tunis. This style was called "figurative." Later, his trip to the United States influenced him. He started to create Abstract Expressionism art.
Two American painters, Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) and Mark Rothko (1913–1970), inspired Hedi Turki. However, his abstract art still had a strong connection to Tunisia. It also had a deep, almost religious, feeling. This made his work special and different from other artists of his time.
Hedi Turki passed away on March 31, 2019, when he was 96 years old.
