like mother, like son: fahrelnissa zeid and nejad devrim - part 1
words by esra
photos by istanbul modern
Fahrelnissa Zeid, one of the first female representatives of the modern Turkish painting, is from the Şakir Pasha Family that offered numerous prominent artists to the art scene. This family’s each member lived an extraordinary life, as well as Fahrelnissa Zeid did.
The family’s military roots date back to the late Ottoman era. Fahrelnissa Zeid’s grandfather Mustafa Asım Bey was the chief of Supreme Military Council. Following his death his children Cevat, Şakir and Sare were brought to Istanbul by their friends and close relatives. Cevat and Şakir graduated from a military school. As a result, Cevat became a Sadrazam at a very young age and earned the title of Pasha. Although he married twice, he never had children. Cevat Pasha and his sister Sare Hanım died with no children. The next generation of the family continued with Şakir Pasha.
Şakir Pasha was highly interested in history, painting, photography; he also wrote and could speak several languages. The Pasha married twice. His first wife, Zehra Hanım, died at a young age because of tuberculosis. Their son Asım was sent to a military school as a tradition of the family. He retired as a cavalry lieutenant and died with no children. Following the tragic death of his first wife, Şakir Pasha married again. From this marriage, he and his second wife Sare İsmet Hanım had two sons Suat and Cevat and four daughters Hakkiye, Ayşe, Fahrelnissa and Aliye. Blaming the Sultan for his big brother Sadrazam Cevat Pasha’s death, Şakir Pasha left his government post. He and his family moved in a mansion in Büyükada, which was considered as one of the quietest parts of Istanbul at the time so that he could write his memoir.
Witnessing the last period of the Ottoman Empire and the first years of the Republic of Turkey, the Şakir Pasha and his family were infamous due to their intriguing lifestyle and personality. Şakir Pasha’s son Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, widely known as the Fisherman of Halikarnas, was an established writer, Pasha’s daughters Fahrelnissa Zeid was a painter and Aliye Berger was an engraver. His grandchildren Nejad Melih Devrim a painter, Füreya Koral a ceramic artist, and Şirin Devrim was a theatre actress. The intriguing life of Şakir Pasha ended, fittingly, in an extraordinary way. During a big and loud quarrel between him and his son Cevat Şakir at his ranch-house in Afyonkarahisar, in 1914, Şakir Pasha was shot by his son and died.
Surrounded by such a turbulent and gripping family, Fahrelnissa, opened her eyes in the mansion in Büyükada on a cold 6th of December, 1901. Although she graduated from Notre Dame de Sion Lycée Français, her mother Sare İsmet Hanım was extra meticulous when it comes to her children’s education and had them take private lessons on English, French, piano, painting, eastern culture, Farsi, Arabic, and Qur’an-ı Kerim.
When she was eight years old, her big brother Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı realized Fahrelnissa’s talent on painting and advised her: “You are formidably talented for your age. You must carry a pencil and a sketchbook with you at all times and draw anything you like.” This compliment started her career as a painter. When she was fourteen years old, she was already drawing patterns and sketches that could rival to those great painters’. It was clear as crystal that she was going to be one of the great painters.
Her passion for painting needed a better guidance and she founded it at the Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi, today’s Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, by becoming one of the first female students there. However, she couldn’t continue her education here: the economic situation that her family was in led her towards marriage. With her beauty, charisma and grace, she was already in the centre of attraction and had many admirers. In the end, her first marriage was to İzzet Melih Devrim, who was a prominent member of Fecr-i Ati writers group. İzzet Melih Bey was her mother’s favourite candidate. He was handsome with a smart and chic style and educated in the western culture. His high ranked position with a generous salary at a western company didn’t also hurt. After the marriage they started to live in the mansion with Fahrelnissa’s family. They had two children: painter Nejad Devrim and stage actress Şirin Devrim.
Nejad Devrim, born in 1st of July, 1923, in Istanbul, was also a painter just like his mother Fahrelnissa. Graduated from Istanbul Galatasaray High School, Nejad Devrim studied under Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Zeki Kocamemi, Nurullah Berk and Léopold Lévy at Istanbul Fine Arts Academy. During his training at the academy and his soul-searching for personal development, he got interested in Byzantium, Ottoman and Abstract Islamic Arts of which effect would emerge in his artistic life. He was also one of the founders of the artistic “Newcomers Group”. In 1946, he moved in Paris with a scholarship and excelled in art. So much that he was one of the young artists who were frequently invited to the infamous parties by Gertrude Stein. His first solo exhibition was held at Allard Gallery when he was 24 years old.
How did his mother react to his son's accomplishment in the European art scene? Based on the rumours, not that good. According to Nejad Devrim's wife Maria Devrim, Fahrelnissa was jealous of his son's artistic success.
(The first part of the "Like Mother, Like Son: Fahrelnissa Zeid and Nejad Devrim" ends here.)