Hikmet Onat

Who is Hikmet Onat? (1882-1977)

Hikmet Onat’s artistic life is full of success, with his serene and determined use of brushes and fragmented stain patterns drawing attention in his paintings.
Hikmet Onat, who graduated from Heybeli Naval Academy in 1903, continued his painting lessons at Sanayi-i Nefise School with Ruhi Arel. He worked with naval photographer Ali Sami Bey.

Onat left the Navy and entered Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi in 1905. After working as an art teacher at Galatasaray High School for a short time, he became the workshop chief at Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi as Warnia Zarzecki’s successor, until his retirement in 1949. He worked here until

Hikmet Onat was among the founders of the Ottoman Painters Society and the Turkish Industry of Fine Arts Union and participated in their exhibitions. He opened a personal exhibition once. He passed the European exam in 1910 and studied with Fernand Cormon in Paris.

The works of the painter, who is among the Şişli Workshop artists, were exhibited in Vienna. The artist, who was sent to Bursa within the scope of Homeland Tours and Exhibitions, painted Bursa-themed paintings. Hikmet Onat received the State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition awards in 1973 and 1974.