And this Turkish artist who apprenticed with the likes of Picasso and Chagall proved it with this his famous painting : it shows a dirt poor family sleeping huddled and crowded together on a creaky bed in a dinghy bedroom roof, probably leaking too … with a worn-out floor-board looking as though it might collapse any moment under the weight of a little cock strutting by past them !
I really love this painting !
“PICTURE OF HAPPINESS: NAZIM HIKMAT The great Turkish poet – once asked his friend Abidin Dino (Turkish artist and well-known painter), to draw a picture of HAPPINESS (sic),” Shahid quipped in the caption. He added, “He drew a picture of a whole family – cramped up on a broken bed under a leaky roof in a shabby room, but still with a smile on each member’s face! (sic).”
Born in 1913 in Istanbul, Abidin Dino was a pioneer in modern Turkish art who is known for his abstract compositions influenced by many art movements. His artistic productions are displayed in museums around the world from Turkey to France, the US, Algeria and beyond.
I do not know what happiness is … but then I find that it makes me happy enough to see it through the eyes of the artist as beholder !
Sudarshan Madabushi