Müfide Kadri Hanım (1889/90, in Istanbul – 1912, in Istanbul) was a Turkish painter and composer; one of the first female artists in Turkey and the first professional female art teacher in the Ottoman Empire. She created mostly portraits and scenes with figures.
She lost her mother while still a baby and was adopted by Kadri Bey, a distant relative of some distinction, and his wife, who was childless.[1] She was taught entirely at home by private tutors, who discovered her artistic talent.
Self-portrait
She began painting seriously at the age of ten and took lessons from Osman Hamdi Bey. Then, she received instruction in drawing and watercolors from Salvatore Valeri[1], an Italian- born Professor at the "Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi" (School of Fine Arts, now part of the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University). She also learned how to play piano, violin, and traditional instruments such as the oud and kemenche.
At the urging of Hamdi Bey, she sent some paintings to an exhibition in Munich, where they were awarded a gold medal. Shortly after, she became a music teacher at Istanbul Girls High School and was later assigned to teach art and embroidery. She also gave painting lessons to Abdul Hamid II's daughter at the Adile Sultan Palace. During this period, she also composed music to the words of various poets that was published in several cultural magazines.
Shortly after showing three of her works at a major exhibition held by the Istanbul Opera Society in 1911, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis, but it was too late to provide effective treatment and she died the following year. After her death, forty of her paintings were sold to benefit the "Ottoman Painters Society".[3] Kadri Bey felt so much grief, he made an Umrah to Mecca and lived there until forced to leave when Ottoman rule was overthrown.
She was buried in Karacaahmet Cemetery. Her tombstone bears an inscription by the well-known calligrapher, İsmail Hakkı Altunbezer [tr], and her life served as inspiration for the novel Son Eseri (Last Work) by Halide Edip Adıvar, published in serial form in the newspaper Tanin .
[1] Salvatore Valeri (1856, Nettuno - 30 December 1946, Nettuno) was an Italian painter who spent much of his career as an art teacher in Turkey.
He studied painting at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. In 1882, he moved from Italy to the Şişli district in Istanbul, where he opened a small workshop. Not long after, the School of Fine Arts and Crafts [tr] opened and, on the recommendation of the British Ambassador, Lord Dufferin, he was able to obtain a position as a teacher of oil painting. He would remain there until 1915. The school later became part of the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University.
He exhibited at the Istanbul Salons of 1901, 1902 and 1903.[1] His students included the sons of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and he was officially granted the title "Teacher of the Princes".[2] He was especially well known for his portraits.
He married an Armenian woman; Maria Lekegian, the sister of one of his students, Gabriel Lekegian. They had a daughter named Italia. He was suspended from teaching during the Italo-Turkish War; returning upon its completion. Three years later, however, he and his family were forced to flee, due to the beginning of the Armenian Atrocities. He returned to his hometown, opened a private art school, and operated it until his death in 1946.
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