Artist

Zeki Faik İzer

After completing his secondary education at the Vefa High School, Zeki Faik İzer entered the Academy of Fine Arts in 1923 and became a student of İbrahim Çallı and Hikmet Onat. In 1928 he passed the scholarship examination to study in Europe, and from 1928 to 1932 he attended the Paris studios of André Lhote and Othon Friesz. Returning to Turkey, he became a painting teacher at the Teacher’s Training School and Education Institute. In 1933, he was a founding member of the d Group. In 1934, he returned to Paris, where he stayed for two years. Upon his return, he founded the photography studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1937. In 1946, he went to Paris with Nurullah Berk, representing Turkey, and together they worked on the organisation of the International Modern Art Exhibition coordinated by UNESCO in Paris, as well as the exhibition titled Turkish Painting Today, the Turkey of Yesterday, held at the Cernuschi Museum. He served as director of the Academy of Fine Arts between 1948-1952. He won the first prize at the annual State Exhibition for Painting and Sculpture in 1948 and 1957. In 1951, İzer took part in the establishment of the Institute of the History of Turkish Art. He participated in the Guggenheim International Exhibition in 1961, as first prize winner in Turkey. İzer retired in 1970, and settled in France. He died in Istanbul in 1988.