Şeref Akdik - Turkish Painting Association - UK- Headquartered in London

Who is Şeref Akdik? (1899-Fatih – 1972 Istanbul)

He completed his primary and secondary education in Fatih. He studied with Warnia Zarzecki, Ömer Adil and İbrahim Çallı at Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University), which he entered in 1915. While I was a student at the Academy; He started to participate in the Turkish Painters Exhibition in 1916, and then in the Galatasaray Exhibitions starting from 1921. After his graduation in 1924, he worked as a teacher at Gazi Osman Pasha High School for a year.

To go abroad, he attended the European exams. Among those who passed the exam were Muhittin Sebati, Mahmut Cuda, Cevat Dereli, and Refik Epikman. He went to Paris in 1925. In 1926 he studied with Albert Laurens at the Julian Academy. He returned to Istanbul in 1928. He worked as an art teacher at Sivas High School for a short time and then at Ankara Teacher Training School (Gazi Terbiye Mektebi). While he was teaching at Ankara Boys’ High School in 1929, he was among the founders of the Independent Painters and Sculptors Union in the same year. He was appointed as a teacher at Ankara Music Teachers’ School in 1930.
The artist, who opened his first personal exhibition at Ankara Community Center in 1932, worked as an art teacher at Istanbul Boys’ Teacher Training School at the end of the same year, at Kadıköy Boys’ High School in 1933, and at Haydarpaşa High School in 1934.
In 1940, he participated in the 3rd Homeland Trip within the scope of the Community Centers “Homeland Trip” program and went to Mersin. He was appointed to Istanbul Teacher Training School in 1948 and to Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts in 1951.
In 1956, he participated in the “Provincial Paintings” exhibition with his work “Kütahya Castle”. In 1957, he opened a retrospective exhibition at the Istanbul Municipality Beyoğlu City Gallery.

The artist retired from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1964. He died in Istanbul in 1972. He was buried in Karacaahmet Cemetery.

Awards
1911 "Second Prize" in the competition organized for children by the Ottoman Painters Society
"Medal" in the 1939 San Francisco Painting Competition
1945 "Little Rider" at the 7th State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition. "First Prize" for his work
Personal exhibitions
1932 First Personal Exhibition Ankara Community Center
1955 Solo Exhibition at Fairleigh Dickinson College, New Jersey
1957 Istanbul Municipality Beyoğlu City Gallery, Retrospective Exhibition
1965 State Academy of Fine Arts Halls, Retrospective Exhibition
1968 Harbiye Modern Gallery, Solo Exhibition
1970 Harbiye Modern Gallery, Solo Exhibition
1971 Harbiye Modern Gallery, Solo Exhibition
group exhibitions
1928 Ankara Ethnography Museum, Young Painters Union, Group Exhibition
1933 1st Revolution Exhibition Ankara
1934 2nd Revolution Exhibition Ankara
1935 3rd Revolution Exhibition Ankara
1937 Independent Painters and Sculptors Union Russia and Yugoslavia/Belgrade Mixed Turkish Exhibition
1938 1st State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition
1940 Fine Arts League Exhibition
1941 3rd State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition
1942 CHP Painting Exhibition
1944 Kadıköy Community Center Group Painting Exhibition
1945 7th State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition Ankara
1946 Paris, UNESCO International Gallery of Modern arts Exhibition
1947 8th State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition
1949 Fine Arts Union Painting Branch, Ankara 26th Exhibition
1950 11th State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Athens Parnassos Painting Gallery, Group Exhibition
1956 Province Paintings Exhibition, Ankara
1959 Kadıköy Youth Bookstore, Group Exhibition
1960 Istanbul American News Service, Group Exhibition, Kadıköy Youth Bookstore, Group Exhibition
1961 Istanbul Municipality Beyoğlu City Gallery, Group Exhibition, Kadıköy Youth Bookstore, Group Exhibition
1965 26th State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition
1967 Kütahya Art Gallery, Group Exhibition
1971 MEB. Fine Arts Gallery, Fine Arts Union Painting Branch, 48th Exhibition,
1972 33rd State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, GSB. 55th Istanbul, 49th Ankara Exhibitions