Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901–1991) was a pioneering artist within Turkish modernism, known for a unique style where Islamic and Byzantine pictorial traditions meet Western modernism. Her works reflect not only the energy and richness of her artistic journey but also the dramatic narrative of her cosmopolitan life.

Fahrelnissa was born in Istanbul in 1901 into an intellectual and diplomatic family and was one of the first women to study at the city's art academy. Her father, Shakir Pasha, brother of the grand vizier Cevat Pasha, was a historian, teacher, and diplomat. In 1928, she moved to Paris for further studies at the Académie Ranson.

After her first marriage, she married Prince Zeid and lived an international life marked by diplomatic missions. The couple resided in Ankara, Berlin (1934–1938), Budapest (1939–1940), and Istanbul, where she decided in 1941 to fully dedicate herself to her artistic career. When Prince Zeid was appointed ambassador in London in 1946, her studio there became an important meeting place. Fahrelnissa hosted salons that attracted artists and intellectuals such as Henry Moore, Marc Chagall, Lee Miller, and Roland Penrose. She also established a studio in Paris and immersed herself in the French art scene, where she became friends with Gertrude Stein, Serge Poliakoff, and Sonia Delaunay.

The coup in Iraq in 1958 marked an abrupt end to Prince Zeid's ambassadorship. Eventually, the couple moved to Paris, where Prince Zeid passed away in 1970. Thereafter, Fahrelnissa resumed her artistic practice and found solace in large-scale portraits of friends and family.

The work presented in this auction, "Maternelle," was painted in Paris in 1973. Although she returned to figurative painting in her portraits from this period, this is a more spiritual motif of motherhood where the central figure is enveloped in a haze of golden light. The artist has worked the thick paint with a palette knife or a blunt tool to create an intricate pattern on the surface.

A few years later, Fahrelnissa would ultimately decide to leave Paris and join her son Prince Raad and his Swedish wife Majda in Amman, Jordan. She continued to work and teach in Jordan until her death in 1991.

Fahrelnissa Zeid's works are now included in the collections of the Barjeel Foundation, Bradford Museum, Elgiz Museum, the French national collections, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the Huma Kabakci Collection, Institut du Monde Arabe, Istanbul Modern, the National Gallery of Fine Arts in Jordan, Khalid Shoman Foundation-Darat al Funun, Mathaf Museum of Modern Art, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Museum Ludwig, Papko Art Collection, Sharjah Art Foundation, Tate Modern, and Wright Museum of Art.