Maide Arel

Maide Arel (1907-1997)

He is an artist who moves from cubism and introduces geometric abstraction. In her works, she exhibited women’s daily pursuits, entertainment environments, and the special time they devoted to themselves, with a modern and simple expression. She played an important role in the organization of women artists in Turkey.
He was born in Istanbul in 1907. She took lessons from Nazmi Ziya and Hikmet Onat Workshops at Istanbul Fine Arts Academy. She graduated from the Academy in 1930. She married the painter Şemsi Arel in 1935. She taught French and music in Erzincan, where her husband was an art teacher.

She won the second prize in the competition organized by Ankara Community Center in 1948. She went to Paris with her husband and attended the Andre Lhote, Fernand Leger and Jean Metzinger Workshops. He opened his first personal exhibition with his wife in 1951, after returning from Paris, at the Beyoğlu French Consulate Hall in Istanbul. In 1956, he went to Hatay with his wife Şemsi Arel to paint dormitories and made pictures depicting this city for the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

He participated in the exhibition held at the International Congress of Art Critics in Istanbul in 1954, in which he also took part, and in the Edinburgh Festival in 1957. In 1959, she organized a joint exhibition with her husband in Paris. In 1960, the art branch of the Association for the Protection of Women’s Rights moved its exhibition to Paris, and in 1964, she won a bronze medal with her work “Turkish Bath” at the “Clup International Feminine” annual exhibition opened at the “Arte Moderne” museum. His work “Çiftetelli” was awarded the International Grand Prize at the Wichy Biennial in France in 1974 and the City Special Prize at the 11th Clermont-Ferrand Contemporary Art Exhibition.