Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu

Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu (1913, Görele - 1975, İstanbul) was a Turkish painter and poet.

Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Painter, Writer and Poet, was born in Görele on the Black Sea in 1911. He was the second child of a family of 5. His elder brother Sabahattin is a well known writer and his younger sister Mualla, one of the first architect working in restoration. She is well known for her work at the Topkapı palace in Istanbul, in the Harem section. His father being Governor, he lived in various parts of Turkey before attending high school in Trabzon a city he left in 1929 to enter the Academy Of Fine Arts in Istanbul. He left the school (temporarly) in 1931 to study in France with his brother. He learned French in Dijon then Lyon, then studied at the Andre Lohte studio in Paris, where he met his future wife, Ernestine Letoni. Back in Turkey he completed his studies and obtained his diploma in 1936. In 1937 he entered the Academy as the assistant and translator of Leopold Levy, he remained at the Academy until his death in 1975.

His first one man show was in Bucarest at the Hasefer Gallery in 1935. The exhibition was organized by his future wife Ernestine. They we married in Istanbul in 1936. Bedri Rahmi was a very prolific artist, he painted frescoes at the Lido restaurant in Istanbul 1943, a large panel at the Opera House of Ankara (1946). e was sent by the government to the city of Edirne in 1938 and to Çorum and Iskilip in 1942. This was a turning point in his painting career.

He worked with mosaics and prepared a panel of 250 sqare meters for the Brussels Fair in 1957, which brought him the firt prize award. He also made a panel for NATO headquarters in Paris, 1960 and when France left NATO the panel was moved the headquarters in Brussels. Bedri Rahmi belonged to the D Group of painters and founded the Group of 10 for young painters. Various mosaic panels can be found in Istanbul at Hospitals or Hotels. He also did a stain glass window composition at the Embassy of Turkey in Bonn, Germany. In 1950, on a second trip to Paris he was extremely impressed with the "Musée de l'homme" exhibiting African Art. This is when he decided to use block printing in order to allow every one to have access to his work. He simplyfied his designs, had blocks prepared and also had his students use this for of printing. In 1960 he was ınvited to the USA on a Rockefeller Grant and a Ford Foundation Grant. He was also guest professor at the University of Berkley in California. One of his work is part of the collection of the Modern Art museum. His work can be found in various Museums in The USA, in Europe and in Turkey. Bedri Rahmi is known to have been an excellent teacher and many of Turkey's contemporary artists praise at having been his student. He died on the 21st of September 1975 in Istanbul.

References

A very comprehensive book published by Iş Bankası in Turkey,2008) in both English and Turkish is available with some 250 paintings. Other books are as follows:

Resme başlarkenKardeş mektuplarıOtoportrePembe VinçBabatomiAşk Mektupları I II III IVGece Yarısı

Bedri Rahmi beside his work at the Academy of Fine Arts, also had a writing career, writing in various literary reviews and in the news paper Cumhuriyet wher he had a weekly art column from 1952-1958. His first poems were published in 1941, "Yaradana mektup" (Letter to the creator). His second book "Karadut" was published in 1948 (Black Mulberry). Other poetry books are as follows:

*Tuz 1952
*Üçü Birden, 1953
*Dördü Birden, 1956
*Karadut 69, 1969
*Dol Karabakır Dol, 1974
*Yaşadım, 1977
*Tezek

External links

* [http://turkoloji.cu.edu.tr/YENI%20TURK%20EDEBIYATI/Aydogan_04.pdf Turkoloji.cu.edu.tr]
* [http://turkresmi.com/klasorler/1940sonrasi/index.htm turkresmi.com]
* [http://www.iskilip.bel.tr/www/gezi.asp Biography]
*http://www.bedrirahmi.com
*http://www.eyubogluailesi.org
*http://www.eyubogullari.org/eb