FIKRET MUALLA'S PLACE IN CONTEMPORARY TURKISH PAINTING AND THE REFLECTIONS OF EXPRESSIVE-FOVIST TENDENCIES IN THEIR PAINTINGS

Abstract

A prolific artist, Fikret Mualla had a conciliatory and natural artistic creation process throughout his life. His "avant-garde" attitude in life and artistic production has never been reconciled with the existing system. This uncompromising lifestyle of Mualla brought about the evolution of his understanding of art. This evolution in his life and art has given his understanding of art a new identity. The relationship between his tragic life and the development of his art is very strong. The artist has experienced what life has laid before him and has expressed what he has experienced in his works. The artist has a special place in Turkish painting with his unique attitude and style. The reflections of Expressionism and Fauvism art movements have found an echo in Turkey as well as in European countries. In the years when these art movements were experienced in the West, neither in the late period of the Ottoman Empire nor in the first years of the Republic, the artistic environment and conditions of the Western world were not formed yet. Our artists, who do not have the conditions that the West has, encountered the developing contemporary art movements in the Western world in the environments where they went to the West for art education. After returning home from the West, they tried to reflect on the contemporary art movements they were influenced by. Despite this, the fact that they were unaware of the newly developing contemporary art news in the West and that they moved away from this artistic thought environment negatively affected our artists in that period. Fikret Mualla has a special place among our artists who produced works in Expressionist and Fauvist understanding with their artistic approaches during this period. The Expressive and Eovist approach that Fikret Mualla applied in the paintings he painted during his lifetime draws attention visibly. The intense emotions experienced by the artist in his stormy lifestyle are reflected in his paintings with a Fauvist and Expressive language of expression. In Fikret Mualla's paintings, the storms, enthusiasm, excitement and sensitivities of the artist are reflected partly with an Expressive and partly with a Fauvist expression. The exaggerated distortions we see in the artist's paintings seem to emphasize dynamism, vitality and simplicity, which are the most important features of Expressive and Fauvist expressions. With a sensitive approach, Fikret Mualla has taken his place in contemporary Turkish art with his expressive and fovist effective works with intense deformations. In this research, which deals with Fikret Mualla theoretically, a literature review is made. The scope of this study is Fikret Mualla's understanding of art and his works.