From Cubism to Abstract Art in Turkish Painting: Artistic Approaches of Women Artists

The modernization process of Turkish painting underwent a significant transformation as new artistic approaches that emerged in the West gradually found resonance within the Turkish art milieu. One of the fundamental stages of this transformation was the Cubist approach, which enabled a reconsideration of objective appearance, followed by emerging tendencies toward abstraction. At the beginning of the twentieth century, artists’ questioning of traditional notions of form paved the way for the development of new possibilities of artistic expression. Paul Cézanne’s approach to nature through a geometric order, Cubism as developed by Pablo Picasso, and the works of Wassily Kandinsky, who evaluated color and form independently of objective reality, were among the major developments that contributed to the emergence of abstract art.In Turkey, the development of art education and the practice of sending painters to Europe following the proclamation of the Republic accelerated the dissemination of modern artistic approaches. Turkish painters who studied under artists such as André Lhote, Fernand Léger, and Hans Hoffmann contributed to the development of Cubist approaches upon their return to Turkey. The relationship between Cubism and abstraction also manifested itself in various forms within Turkish painting: while some artists continued to pursue a Cubist approach, others gradually turned toward abstract expression. This study examines the position of women artists within this transformation by analyzing the artistic approaches of Fahrünnisa Zeyd, Hale Asaf, Eren Eyüboğlu, Maide Arel, Şükriye Dikmen, and Güzin Duran in relation to Cubism and abstract art. Within the framework of qualitative research, the study employs a literature review and descriptive analysis. The findings indicate that women artists contributed to the modernization of Turkish painting by synthesizing influences derived from Western art with their own cultural backgrounds and artistic experiences.