Fikret Mualla Saygı

Fikret Mualla, known as the Turkish Picasso, started his art career in Switzerland, where he went to study. When he was broke for a short time in Switzerland, he applied to the consulate and went to Germany with financial support. He studied at the art academy between the ages of 16-25 whilst living there. During this period, he was starting to drink and stayed in a mental hospital for a period due to his excessive drinking. After these adventures, he returned to his homeland in 1927. He started to work as a teacher at Galatasaray High School and Ayvalık Secondary School for a short time, and eventually quit his job to paint.

In 1938, whilst drunk, he disliked the way an Atatürk painting was portrayed. After making inappropriate comments, and a misunderstanding with the police, he was arrested. In the past (1936) Mualla, who was shy around the police because he had such an attitude, developed a phobia of police.

Briefly His Personality

When Ara Güler wanted to hold an interview, Mualla thought he was a police officer and did not want to meet, however his friends intervened and he accepted it. This reveals his fear of the police. In addition to having paranoid traces in his personality, he was a very incompatible, lonely and contentious person. Mualla could not pass without mentioning that he was a very grumpy man – he was a combative and not afraid of swearing. Always financially troubled, Mualla was selling his paintings for drink, food and coal. As an example, the incident with Picasso, whom he met at that time, can be cited: Picasso praised his paintings and gifted him a painting. But Fikret Mualla sold this painting for  the sake of alcohol. After meeting Picasso, Mualla, who was a painter and was known in the high class society, could not understand this and became reproachful against his fondness.

 After Germany

Fikret Mualla

Actually, he didn’t get along with the higher strata in general anyway, in fact he didn’t even get along well with his customers. He was talking inappropriately and fighting with those who did not want to buy his pictures for the price he wanted. Sometimes he even regretted selling it and wanted to buy it back. He also frequently worked on illustration in Yeni Adam magazine. Nazım Hikmet’s “Benerci Kendini Niçin Öldürdü?” and “Varan Üç”.

However, after the unfortunate incident in Turkey, he returned to France. He formed agreements with the galleries and would sell his works there. He came under the protection of Madam Angles, the regular of his latest paintings. After a stroke, he went to the shores of Nice, where he would spend the last moments of his life. When his illness increased, he was buried first in the hospital and then in the cemetery for the orphans (1967). His bones were brought to Karacaahmet in 1974. He told his friend Dr. Safder Tarım that he had been waiting for death for a long time with these words:

“Disastrously. I fall asleep in anguish, I  leak… Then I look, I woke up, it was morning … I’m not dead … I am so sad that … ”  (Tarım, 1968).”

REFERENCES

Bayrak, B. T. (2009). 15-17 Yaş Grubu Öğrencilerin Sanat Eğitiminde Yerel ve Özgün Değerlerin Kazandırılmasında Fikret Mualla’nın Yeri.

Bozdemir, Ö. (2012). Fikret Mualla SAYGI Örneğinde Sanatçı Yaşantısının Sanat Yapıtıyla İlişkisi.

Hacıosmanoğlu, C. (2004, Eylül). Fikret Mualla ve Resmi.

Tarım, D. S. (1968). Son Görüşme. Fikret Mualla. Devlet Güzel Sanatlar Akademisi.