Ali (Avni) ?elebi

(b Istanbul, 1 March 1904). Turkish painter. He studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Istanbul from 1918 to 1922 and then went to Munich, where he worked under Hans Hofmann. In 1927 he returned to Turkey and submitted paintings to the exhibitions at the Galatasaray Lyc?e in Istanbul, where his style attracted interest. In 1928 he became one of the leading members of the Association of Independent Painters and Sculptors, and in 1932 he exhibited his paintings at the Glorya Cinema in Istanbul. By this time he had emerged as a pioneer of modernism in Turkey, and the influence of Expressionism can be seen in such works as the Masked Ball (1928; Istanbul, Mimar Sinan U., Mus. Ptg & Sculp.) and The Barber (1931; Istanbul, Mimar Sinan U., Mus. Ptg & Sculp.). At the Revolution and the Arts exhibition held by the Ministry of Education in Ankara in 1933 he exhibited Wounded Soldier (1932; Istanbul, Mimar Sinan U., Mus. Ptg & Sculp.). From 1931 to 1935 he was an art teacher at a girls' school in Konya, after which he was employed as a designer in the Department of Archaeology at Istanbul University. From 1938 to 1947 he taught at the Fine Arts Academy, Istanbul, and in 1944 he won first prize in the State Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture. In his later paintings, such as Cat and Squirrel (1967; Istanbul, Mimar Sinan U., Mus. Ptg & Sculp.), his expressionistic style is still evident.

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