Born in 1903 in Constantinople to a Tunisian father and a Turkish mother, Yahia Turki enrolled in the Lycée Carnot in Tunis and simultaneously attended classes in a Koranic school. At the Lycée Alaoui, where he pursued his education, his teacher Georges Le Mare noticed his talent for drawing. Yet, the young pupil had to respond to his family’s expectations and joined the public service, keeping his art as a hobby. Yahia Turki attended the Centre d’Enseignement d’Art in Tunis – later called École des Beaux-Arts in Tunis in 1930 –  for five months during the 1920s, yet he was considered to be a self-taught painter. His first success was at the Salon Tunisien in 1923. Later he was granted a scholarship to stay in Paris between 1927 and 1928, where he took part in the Colonial Exhibition of French artists and the Salon des Indépendents. Turki was appointed president of the École de Tunis in 1956 until 1968. In his oeuvre, the artist showed his interest in the open-air painting through which he represented genre scenes or landscapes. With a vibrant color palette, he illustrated the daily life of Tunisian inhabitants in Djerba and Sidi Bou Saïd, camel drivers, or views over the medina and its public markets. Yahia Turki passed away in 1969.

This is a short biography. The full version , along with research, CV and sources will be posted soon. Stay tuned and visit us often or become a member to be notified of our updates.