Fahrünnisa Zeid (1901–1991) is among the first female artists to play a significant role in the development of modern painting in Türkiye. Her artistic career unfolded in parallel with the social and cultural transformations of the 20th century, reflecting a formal quest for innovation through a style that evolved from figuration to abstraction. Her works attracted attention in both national and international art circles.

Family and Education

Fahrünnisa Zeid was born in 1901 on Büyükada, Istanbul, under the name Fahrünnisa Şakir. She belonged to an intellectual and aristocratic family. Her father was the soldier, diplomat, and historian Kabaağaçlı Mehmed Şakir Pasha, and her mother was Sare İsmet Hanım. Her uncle, Cevad Pasha, served as a grand vizier during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II. Her siblings include the writer known as “Halikarnas Balıkçısı,” Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, and the engraver Aliye Berger.^【1】

Fahrünnisa Zeid and Her Family, Sitting in the Front Row Left to Right, Büyükada, 1910 (Adila Laïdi-Hanieh)

Fahrünnisa Şakir’s interest in art began at an early age. This continued through her youth, enabling her to enroll in 1919 at the İnas Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi in Istanbul, making her one of the first women in Türkiye to receive formal painting education. However, she interrupted her studies due to her first marriage and traveled to Europe in the 1920s, continuing her artistic work there. With her first husband, İzzet Melih Devrim, she had two children: the renowned painter Nejat Devrim and the theater artist Şirin Devrim.

In 1928, she studied at the Stalbach Atelier of the Ranson Academy in Paris and took lessons from the painter Roger Bissière for a year. Upon returning to Türkiye, she continued her painting education and participated in Namık İsmail’s atelier at the Academy of Fine Arts until 1930.

Fahrünnisa Zeid’s Oil Painting of Her Grandmother, 1915 (Acar and Alp)

In 1934, Fahrünnisa married Emir Zeyd bin Hussein, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Iraq to Ankara and brother of King Faisal I of Iraq, and adopted the title of princess. Following this marriage, she began using the name Fahrelnissa Zeid, adapting it to better suit Arabic usage. Due to her husband’s diplomatic postings, she spent many years in Berlin, London, and Paris. From this marriage, she had a son named Raad.

Artistic Career and Exhibitions

After her time in Paris in 1928 and the education she received there, Zeid’s works began to move away from classical academic painting toward expressionist tendencies.^【2】

During the years of the Second World War, Zeid lived in Istanbul and joined the art group D Group in 1941. Her figurative works from this period are large-scale canvases marked by intense symbolism, interior scenes, and portraits. Fahrünnisa Zeid participated in group exhibitions with D Group and held her first solo exhibition in 1945 in her home in the Maçka neighborhood of Istanbul, becoming the first artist in Türkiye to open a solo exhibition in her residence.^【3】

In the late 1940s, Fahrünnisa Zeid’s work turned increasingly toward abstraction. In 1946, due to her husband’s diplomatic assignment, the family moved to London. Zeid held her first exhibition in London in 1947 at the St. George’s Gallery, where she hosted Queen Elizabeth of England at the opening.^【4】

During this period, Zeid carried out her artistic activities in studios in both London and Paris. Her works were exhibited in 1949 at the Colette Allendy Gallery in Paris. Under the guidance of Charles Estienne, she became associated with the Nouvelle École de Paris (New School of Paris). During these years, she participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions and shared exhibition spaces with artists such as Chagall, Léger, and Picabia.^【5】

In 1950, Fahrünnisa Zeid sustained her international success with a solo exhibition in New York. She held over forty exhibitions in European capitals and the United States, becoming the first Turkish woman painter to exhibit most frequently abroad during her time.^【6】

Artistic Style

Zeid’s works are recognized for their high-energy brushwork, vibrant colors, and monumental canvases. Her artistic style presents a layered structure that began with figurative expression and gradually evolved into abstract expressionism.

In the early phase of her career, she adopted a figurative approach through portraits, interior scenes, and symbolic compositions. This period is marked by intense color usage, thick brushstrokes, and dynamic compositions radiating energy across the surface.

From 1949 onward, Zeid turned toward abstraction. Her earliest works in this mode feature compositions divided into geometric fragments. Over time, these structures transformed into a universal visual language characterized by dynamic lines, strong color contrasts, and complex spatial arrangements. Rhythmic repetitions, spiral forms, and fragmented surfaces dominate her compositions. Alongside her forceful lines, her use of color and light reflects an expressionist idiom.

Fahrünnisa Zeid, “Cehennemim,” 1951 (Adila Laïdi-Hanieh)

After the 1958 regime change in Iraq, Fahrünnisa Zeid, together with her husband, began a life in exile in Europe. In the 1960s, she returned to figuration, with portraits becoming central to her artistic output. The influence of abstraction is evident in these portraits, which gain spiritual depth through sharp facial contours and eyes rendered larger than life.^【7】

Fahrünnisa Zeid, Portrait of Her Husband Emir Zeyd, 1967 (Acar and Alp)

Different Artistic Media and Educational Role

In the 1960s, Fahrünnisa Zeid developed a new artistic form she called “Paleokrystal,” incorporating diverse materials such as chicken bones, resin, polyester, and glass into her works. After this transitional phase, she began creating three-dimensional sculptures.

After her husband’s death, Zeid moved to Amman in 1976 to live with her son, where she founded an institute bearing her name and trained students. In the mid-1980s, she produced works using stained glass techniques, which possessed an original character distinct from traditional stained glass conventions. Alongside these, she continued her work on portraits in her later years. The artist passed away in Amman in 1991.

Fahrünnisa Zeid, Self-Portrait titled “One from the Past,” 1980 (Acar and Alp)

Zeid’s style never remained confined solely to the influence of Western modernism; rather, it took shape as the product of a personal, intuitive, and boundary-free creative approach. In this regard, she holds a unique position both in the development of modern art in Türkiye and in the representation of female artists within global art history.

Throughout her artistic career, Fahrünnisa Zeid developed a dynamic production process marked by formal diversity and periodical transformations. Beginning with figurative painting, she developed abstract expressionist approaches from the 1940s onward and gained international visibility through her exhibitions. As an educator, she contributed to the transmission of art, and through her experiments with diverse techniques and materials, she established a distinctive place in the history of 20th-century modern art.