Mihri Müşfik Hanım
| Mihri Müşfik Hanım | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Born |
Mihri Achba 26 February 1886 Baklatarlası, Kadıköy, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire | ||||
| Died |
c. 1954 New York, United <States | ||||
| Burial | Pauper's graveyard, Hart Island, New York | ||||
| Spouse | Müşfik Selami Bey | ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Anchabadze | ||||
| Father | Ahmed Rasim Pasha Achba | ||||
| Mother | Fatma Neședil Hanım | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
Mihri Achba, Mihri Müşfik Hanım, Mihri Rasim (26 February 1886 - c. 1954) was one of the first and renowned Turkish female painter. She was the first contemporary female artist to study paintings. She was recognized especially for her portraits. She made the portraits of very well-known people, including Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Pope Benedict XV.
Biography
Early life
The eccentric and bohemian painter Mihri Müşfik Hanım was born into the Anchabadze dynasty as an Anchabadze princess, in the Rasim Pasha Mansion, Baklatarlası neighborhood of Kadıköy in Istanbul on 26 February 1886.[1] Her Abkhazian father, Prince Dr. Ahmed Rasim Pasha,[1] was an anatomy specialist and a preeminent instructor in the Military School of Medicine. In formal documents and family letters, he is also referred to as the president of this institution. Dr. Ahmed Rasim Pasha's refined tastes and interest in music, painting, and in literature must have played an important role in the artistic formation of his daughter. In addition to his reputation as a physician, Rasim Pasha was also famous for his interest in music and for playing the saz at evening gatherings. In these activities, he serves as a telling example of the Istanbul elites of the period for displaying as 'occidental versatility'. in their lives. Mihri Hanım's Abkhazian mother, Princess Fatma Neședil Hanım, was one of Rasim Pasha's wives. Her younger sister Enise Hanım was mother to the painter Hale Asaf, another distinguished female artist of the late Ottoman society.
Departure to Europe
Given a typical western education, Mihri Hanım took an interest in literature, music, and painting. Her first private lessons in painting were provided by an Italian Orientalist artist, Fausto Zonaro, in his studio in the Istanbul quarter of Beşiktaş-Akaretler. Mihri Hanım fell in love with the Italian director of an acrobat company visiting Istanbul, and subsequently departed for Rome and then Paris, evidently wishing to be involved in art circles. For a time she lived and worked in a flat in Montparnasse, sustaining herself by painting portraits and subletting one of rooms to students. One of these tenants was Müşfik Selami Bey, a student of politics at the University of Sorbonne, whom she later married.[1] Müşfik Bey was the son of Selami Bey, a well-known personage from Bursa. He was interested in politics, history, and literature. The date of her marriage with him is unknown.
Return to Istanbul
Mihri Hanım was introduced to Cevit Bey, Ottoman Minister of Finance, in Paris to arrange an agreement with the French government following the Balkan Wars. Telegrams sent by Cavit Bey to the Minister of Education recommending Mihri Hanım resulted in her being appointed as an art teacher at the Istanbul Teachers' Training School for Girls in 1913. When the School of Fine Arts for Girls was established in 1914, she was employed here as director as well as fine arts instructor,[1] following the appointment of mathematician Salih Zeki Bey. As we will see, Mihri Hanım's contributions to the School of Fine Arts for Girls were considerable, even revolutionary.
Another early and significant step in women's education was the opening of nursing classes in 1843. Fifteen years later, a letter arrived at the Grand Vizierate from the Council of Education, stressing that a school for girls was badly needed; if leaving girls uneducated was now being viewed as dangerous, after a certain age educating them together with males was equally so. Thus shortly thereafter, in 1859, the first general school for women, the Cevri Kalfa School, was opened, and since women teachers could not be found, elderly male instructors were employed to provide training. Official journals as well as various other newspapers supported women's education and promoted Cevri Kalfa School.
Edebiyat-ı Cedide
Mihri Hanım also had friends among the poets of Edebiyat-ı Cedide (New Literature), especially one of its leaders, Tevfik Fikret. If the Edebiyat-ı Cedide constituted the literary wing of French artistic influence among the late Ottoman intelligentsia, Mihri Hanım can be said to represent its counterpart in painting; she clearly had a special place among the artists of this school. Tevfik Fikret's house in Aşiyan became her studio for a time, as seen in his notes: "There is a lady upstairs who paints my portraits. She interprets my verses so wonderfully-I am surprised to discover that my words are so meaningful. She has begun to describe myself to me. How alienated have I become from my writing."
Edebiyat-ı Cedide poets were influenced by Realism, Parnassianism, and Symbolism, which dominated nineteenth-century French literature during this period. Cenab Şahabettin, a member of Servet-i Fünun, notes one of its principle conceptions, a special relation with nature: "a place where emotions and dreams roam," it was also taken to act as the mirror of the artist's souls. In addition to this influence, the colour symbolism of Edebiyat-ı Cedide poetry seems to have influenced Mihri Hanım's work.Maî ve Siyah [Blue and Black], Hlit Ziya's famous novel reflects the 'blues' of the Edebiyat-ı Cedide school as well as Mihri Hanım's portraits.
Mihri Hanım's visit to the journalist Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın and the convicted ex-minister of France, Cavit Bey, gave rise to criticisms regarding her behaviour. In response, in 1919 she and her students paid a visit to the newspaper Tanin, and denounced the allegations. Her close relations with the İttihad ve Terraki Cemiyeti (Committee of Union and Progress; CUP) eventually caused Mihri Hanım to leave Istanbul, occupied by Allied powers, for Italy in 1919. Within a year after her return, she resumed teaching at the School of Fine Arts for Girls.
Visit to Italy
Toward the end of 1922, she went to Italy again and there ended her marriage with Müşfik Bey; the couple divorced in 1923.[1] She had an affair with the Italian poet Gabriele D'Annunzio and through him found an opportunity to paint a portrait of the pope as well as to work at the restoration of the frescoes in a chapel. Mihri Hanım had been introduced to Gabriele D'Annunzio by her friend, painter Renato Brozzi, and corresponded with him through Brozzi. She was occasionally a topic in their correspondence. On 4 February 1926, d'Annunzio wrote to Brozzi: "Where is the Turkish lady? I have been unable to hear from her. If you see her, embrace her for me, but this embrace must be that of harem agha's". In another letter, written on 26 August 1926, the "Turkish lady" was once again recalled: "Where is the odalisque Mihri? What is she doing?" Apparently, regardless of Mihri Hanım's struggles as a professional, these Italian painters continued to view her through an Orientalist filter.
Later years and death
Mihri Hanım returned to Turkey briefly after the foundation of the Republic. Here, she painted Atatürk's portrait and presented it to him personally at the Çankaya Presidential Residence in Ankara.
Mihri Hanım subsequently traveled to Rome, to Paris and then to the United States (New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., and Chicago).[1] The details of her departure from Turkey and arrival in America are not certain. It is still unclear when she arrived in the country, though a news item in the New York Times dated 25 November 1928 notes that a collection of Mihri Hanım's work was to be exhibited at the George Maziroff Gallery between November 26 and December 15 thus, indicating that she was in fact in New York after 1928.
Between 1938 and 1939, she worked as a protocol hostess at the World Exposition in Long Island, New York. During this period, she painted a portrait of Rezzan Yelman, the wife of journalist Ahmet Emin Yalman, who lived in New York. She also reportedly produced cover illustrations for various journals published in New York during World War II. She lived her last years destitute and was, sadly, buried in a pauper's graveyard in Hart Island, New York in 1954.