Fahrelnissa Zeid: Painter of Inner Worlds

by Adila Laïdi-Hanieh

Coinciding with a touring Tate exhibition of her work, this book is the first biography of influential abstract painter Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901–91), a pioneer of Turkish art whose rich life spanned the first 90 years of the 20th century. Zeid is best known for her large-scale paintings that combine Islamic, Byzantine, Arab and Persian influences with stylistic elements developed in Europe during the postwar period. Born into a prominent family in Istanbul, she emerged as a leading figure of Turkish modernism and went on to become a prominent member of the 1950s École de Paris abstract art movement, praised by André Breton. In the same decade, she was also one of the first women to exhibit at London’s ICA. This book covers her peripatetic life, the evolution of her practice and her reinvention in her eighties as a teacher, redefining her for the contemporary reader as one of the most important female modernists.

Genres: Art

240 pages, Hardcover

Published August 22, 2017

Reviews

[ReemK10 (Paper Pills) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished reading Adila Laïdi-Hanieh's biography of Fahrelnissa Zeid. It truly is a labor of love! Fahrelnissa Zeid would have been thrilled to know that her own student had written it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this beautifully written book. I knew nothing about Fahrelnissa and now am ecstatic with the knowledge that I have gained. It has been a joyful reading experience!!!

[Sxn · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my fave art bios, extremely well-written and well-researched

[Esra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitabi bir havaalanı kitapçısında şans eseri buldum, halbuki daha önce duymuştum ve arıyordum. Çok çok başarılı, özenle araştırılmış, hem F Zeid’in değişken ruh dünyası yansıtılmış hem de ürettiği birbirinden son derece farklı bir çok eserinin birarada bulunduğu eşsiz bir kitap olmuş.

[Zeynep Şen · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://www.hokkadan.com/fahrelnissa-z...

[Gratia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written book with a mass of details about the dramatic life & and stellar career of FZ.
The book re-places her within 20th century modernism while debunking Orientalist & nativist interpretations of her work & her fictitious influence by Islamic and byzantine art traditions.
The book stresses the breadth of her classical & modern European high culture formation & the importance of her mood episodes on her practice.