Zeki Faik İzer

Zeki Faik İzer (1905 – 1988)

He was from the independent and Group D generation, being born in between 1900-1910. Like the most artists from his generation, he completed his artistic training at the Lhote Studio in Paris after attending the Istanbul Fine Arts Academy. It is particularly interesting that he was not influenced by Lhote, Leopold or Levy, who influenced the artists at the academy. He has little sympathy with the cubist movement. In his prime was one of those artists who won international awards and participated in foreign exhibitions.

In his youth he wanted to be an art critic, but abandoned writing about art in his later years. He was not even keen to be a member of jury panels. On the other hand he looked into the frontiers of the art, and had little respect for Western styles, that did not seem to him true or meaningful. He realised that quests of this time produced little result and thus he continued his work with in the framework of this logic. Zeki Faik İzer maintained that attitude throughout his life and managed to take a significant place in Turkish art with his works and thoughts, which reflect his own character.