Issam al-Said | |
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| Born | 1938 Baghdad, Iraq |
| Died | 1988 London, England |
| Nationality | Iraqi |
| Education |
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| Known for | Painter, print-maker, designer, etcher, architect, philosopher and author |
| Notable work |
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| Website | Al-Said Official website |
Issam al-Said (1938-1988) was a distinguished Iraqi painter, print-maker, designer, etcher, architect, philosopher and author who completed several major public buildings in Baghdad and in London.
Issam al-Said was born in Baghdad in 1938 into an influential family. He was the second son of Iraqi parents, Sabah Nuri al-Said and Esmat Ali Pasha Fahmi (who was of Egyptian ancestry) and the grandson of Nuri al-Said Pasha (Iraq's Prime Minister, 1930–58). As an adult, his older brother, Falah, was the personal pilot to King Hussein. Both his father and grand-father were brutally killed during the 1958 revolution. [1]
He studied architecture at Cambridge University, graduating in 1961 [2] and also studied at the Hammersmith College of Art and Design, London in 1962-4. He began preparing for a PhD on the Methodology of Geometric Proportioning in Islamic Architecture at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1988, but died in London of a heart attack [3] before he could complete it. The work was published posthumously. [4]
He was a versatile artist who, in addition to major public buildings completed in London and Baghdad, also designed furniture including lamps, carpets, tiles, furniture, etc. [5] From the 1960s, he began incorporating kufi script into his artworks, thereby joining the growing ranks of hurufiyya artists developing this style in the Middle East and North Africa in the 1950s and 60s. [6]
His artworks are held in international collections, both private and public, including prestigious art museums such as: The British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York; National Museum of Modern Art (Baghdad) and the National Museum of Modern Art (Amman, Jordan). [7]
He is the subject of the book, Issam El-Said: Artist and Scholar by Samir Chorbachi Published by Issam El-Said Foundation, 1989 (two editions in English and Arabic) [12]
Nuri Pasha al-Said CH was an Iraqi politician during the Mandatory Iraq and the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq. He held various key cabinet positions and served eight terms as the Prime Minister of Iraq.
Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic area historically ranging from western Africa and Europe to eastern Asia. Certain commonalities are shared by Islamic architectural styles across all these regions, but over time different regions developed their own styles according to local materials and techniques, local dynasties and patrons, different regional centers of artistic production, and sometimes different religious affiliations.
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