368 - Abidin Dino (Turkish 1913-1993)

Abidin Dino (Turkish 1913-1993) Untitled, circa 1960; watercolour on paper, 66 x 51cm. Note: Abidin Dino was the youngest of five gifted siblings raised in an intellectually rich family. Largely self-taught, he began publishing drawings in his teens after spending part of his childhood in Geneva and Paris. A formative encounter with calligraphy shaped his practice, leading him to merge writing and drawing into a single, fluid gesture. Though associated with Istanbul’s D Grubu and later in dialogue with the Surrealists in Paris, Dino remained independent of movements and schools. Working across drawing, writing, film, sculpture, and criticism, he cultivated a multidisciplinary practice defined by expressive line and intellectual freedom.