Şeref Akdik, 1899-1972

Şeref Akdik entered The Academy of Fine Arts in 1915 and studied under Warnia Zarzecki, Ömer Adil and İbrahim Çallı. Between 1925 and 1928 he worked at Albert Laurens’ studio in Paris. He was one of the founders of the Society of Independent Painters and Sculptors. His early works convey the excitement of the radical changes implemented by the young Republic that replaced the Ottoman Empire. His “Reform of the Alphabet/National School” (1930), “Atatürk Sending a Telegram” (1934) and “Villagers in an Art and Handcraft Class” (1936), currently in Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture, symbolize his loyalty to the Republic. He participated in the ‘Homeland Journeys’ project organized by the Republican People's Party between 1938 and 1943, and painted scenes in İçel in 1940 and in Erzincan in 1943. Both the stylistic and conceptual nature of his work is close to the spirit of this project.

“Metallurgy Workshop” contains similarities to the paintings that he did for the Homeland Journeys project. Akdik's documentary paintings depict the social, cultural and economic initiatives of the Republic. No particular movement left a clear mark on his work; however, as the painter and writer Eşref Üren stated, clear similarities with “Impressionism, based on the sound drawing of Degas” are apparent.