The exhibition ‘Choosing Solitude, A Retrospective: 1946-2006’, featuring the works of Remzi Raşa, one of the last living painters of the Second Paris School, was held in Turkey after 58 years in Diyarbakır and Istanbul. Diyarbakır exhibition was realized with the collaboration of Anadolu Kültür, Diyarbakır Arts Center, and Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality at Sümerpark Amed Art Gallery April 7-May 6, 2012.

Raşa was born in Kırıkhan, a town near Hatay, and held his first exhibition at the age of 17 at the Public Culture House there. In Paris, where he settled in 1953, he held solo exhibitions in many galleries and participated in group exhibitions. According to his own statement, Raşa, whose paintings are considered classical by some art critics and modern by others, aims to create the painting of the future. Depicting solitude, exploring the memory of the people, especially women, and objects and places such as the Parisian cafes he portrays, and delving into their stories has been among the aspirations of Raşa, a figurative artist. Until his death in Paris on July 25, 2015, Remzi Raşa worked in his studio in Paris and said that he would die the day he could no longer paint. This exhibition fulfills a longing by bearing witness to a lifetime.