The “Picture of Happiness” and the Story Behind It

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Family sleeping together on a bed under an umbrella, with a chicken nearby — an image often shared online as “The Picture of Happiness.”
A popular painting often circulated online as “The Picture of Happiness,” though incorrectly attributed to Abidin Dino

Had received the above forward from a group. But, strange as it may seem, the painting “Picture of Happiness” is not actually painted by Abidin Dino.

The background to the painting is, however, interesting and worth reading.

His close friend, Nazım Hikmet, was a renowned poet and well known in political circles in his homeland, Turkey. At one stage he was asked by its ruler of that time, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, to write poetry that would inspire Turkish volunteers in the fight for independence.

However, due to his strong Communist leanings he later fell out of favour and was exiled, and eventually imprisoned.

During this difficult period, he asked his dear friend Abidin Dino to paint a picture of happiness. Being a poet, he framed his wish in poetic form:

Can you paint the picture of happiness, Abidin?
But without taking the easy way
Not the picture of an angelic mother nursing her rosy-cheeked baby
Nor of apples on top of a white cloth
Nor of a red fish darting through water bubbles in an aquarium
Can you paint the picture of happiness, Abidin?

When Abidin read Nazım's question about “painting the picture of happiness,” he was deeply moved. He agonised about how to respond to it in a meaningful way.

Abidin said:

“Happiness is a weird notion. It requires continuity. In fact, there cannot be enough of it. Can happiness be painted? I do not know. Has anyone succeeded in painting it? I doubt it. Fear, sadness, hopelessness, despair and misery — these notions have all been painted before, but not happiness.”


Eventually, Abidin responded to Nazım not with a painting but through a poem of his own, “Picture of Happiness.” As he indicated at the end of the poem, he did not believe it was possible to truly paint such a thing.

At the harbor, kids are selling freshly baked simits
The seagulls are anxiously fussy today
The dockworkers are looking out for you.

If only you stepped down from the next steamboat
With Varna's dust on your boots
And a little ache in your heart.
If I could embrace you once again
With that burning longing
In your blue eyes.
If davuls played and zurnas spoke

If we could hold you on our bosoms, Nazım,
I would paint the picture of happiness.
Wearing your boyhood hat
Sleeves rolled up, ready for a brawl,

If we could walk with sailor-steps
And go to Meserret Cafe,
Where we first met.
There I would treat you to a bitter coffee.

If we could speak of those days,
The ones past, the ones in the future,
Neither days nor nights would be enough.
All pains would cease with you

Our separation would be only a dream,
Left in memories.
If we could wander through Turkey
From one end to the other
The places where we once stayed, now museums
The cities of our exile, now heaven.

Only then, Nazım,
Would I paint the picture of happiness
Neither canvas nor paint would be enough to do so.

Coming to the painting itself, Dino was essentially an Expressionist. His work ranged from highly expressive line drawings to forms that were almost abstract. In no way could the painting in question belong to his style.

In all probability, his name was simply attributed to it.

Below are photographs of the two dear friends, along with a self-portrait by Dino, clearly showing the Expressionist style that more than refutes the attribution of this painting to him.

Perhaps that is why the painting continues to circulate, because the idea of happiness is often simpler than the reality behind it.

The two friends - Nazim Hikmet and Abidin Dino
The two friends - Nazim Hikmet and Abidin Dino

Self portrait - Abidin Dino
Self portrait - Abidin Dino


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