List of Iraqi artists

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The following is a list of important artists, including visual arts, poets and musicians, who were born in Iraq, active in Iraq or whose body of work is primarily concerned with Iraqi themes or subject matter.

Contents

Note: This article uses Arabic naming customs: the name "al" (which means 'from a certain place') or "ibn" or "ben" (which means 'son of') are not used for alphabetical indexing. Artists are listed alphabetically by their paternal family name. For example, the Iraqi artist Hashem Muhammad al-Baghdadi, is listed under "B" for Baghdadi, the paternal family name while the artist Zigi Ben-Haim, is listed under "H" for Haim.

A

B

C

D

E

F

H

J

K

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

W

Y

Z

See also

Major Iraqi public artworks

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Jewad Selim (1919–1961) was an Iraqi painter and sculptor born in Ankara, Ottoman Empire in 1919. He became an influential artist through his involvement with the Iraqi Baghdad Modern Art Group, which encouraged artists to explore techniques that combined both Arab heritage and modern art forms. He is considered to be one of Iraq's greatest 20th-century sculptors.

Faeq Hassan (1914–1992) was an Iraqi painter noted for founding several 20th century art groups, which collectively were responsible for bridging the gap between Iraqi heritage and traditional art and modern art. He is often called the 'father of Iraqi modern art.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Qadir Al Rassam</span> Iraqi artist (1882–1952)

Abdul Qadir Al Rassam, عبد القادر الرسام), 1952 - 1882), was born in Baghdad, Ottoman Empire. He was one of the first generation of Iraqi artists to study abroad and paint in the European style. He was influential in terms of introducing local audiences to European art. He is noted for his portraits and landscapes, painted in the Realist style.

Jabra Ibrahim Jabra was an Iraqi-Palestinian author, artist and intellectual born in Adana in French-occupied Cilicia to a Syriac Orthodox Christian family. His family survived the Seyfo Genocide and fled to the British Mandate of Palestine in the early 1920s. Jabra was educated at government schools under the British-mandatory educational system in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, such as the Government Arab College, and won a scholarship from the British Council to study at the University of Cambridge. Following the events of 1948, Jabra fled Jerusalem and settled in Baghdad, where he found work teaching at the University of Baghdad. In 1952 he was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Humanities fellowship to study English literature at Harvard University. Over the course of his literary career, Jabra wrote novels, short stories, poetry, criticism, and a screenplay. He was a prolific translator of modern English and French literature into Arabic. Jabra was also an enthusiastic painter, and he pioneered the Hurufiyya movement, which sought to integrate traditional Islamic art within contemporary art through the decorative use of Arabic script.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ismail Fatah Al Turk</span>

Ismail Fatah Al-Turk was an Iraqi painter and sculptor born in Basra, Iraq, noted for his abstract art, monumental sculpture, and public works and as part of the Baghdad Modern Art Group, which fostered a sense of national identity. His monument, al-Shaheed Monument is the most iconic public monument in Baghdad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammed Ghani Hikmat</span>

Mohammad Ghani Hikmat was an Iraqi sculptor and artist credited with creating some of Baghdad's highest-profile sculptures and monuments and was known as the "sheik of sculptors". He is also known as an early member of Iraq's first 20th-century art groups, including Al-Ruwad and The Baghdad Modern Art Group; two groups that helped to bridge the gap between tradition and modern art. He was also instrumental in recovering many of Iraq's missing artworks, which were looted following the 2003 invasion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dia Azzawi</span> Iraqi painter and sculptor

Dia Al-Azzawi is an Iraqi painter and sculptor, now living and working in London, and one of the pioneers of modern Arab art. He is noted for incorporating Arabic script into his paintings. Active in the arts community, he founded the Iraqi art group known as New Vision and has been an inspiration to a generation of young, calligraffiti artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraqi art</span>

Iraqi art is one of the richest art heritages in world and refers to all works of visual art originating from the geographical region of what is present day Iraq since ancient Mesopotamian periods. For centuries, the capital, Baghdad was the Medieval centre of the literary and artistic Arab world during the Abbasid Caliphate, in which Baghdad was the capital, but its artistic traditions suffered at the hands of the Mongol invaders in the 13th century. During other periods it has flourished, such as during the reign of Pir Budaq, or under Ottoman rule in the 16th century when Baghdad was known for its Ottoman miniature painting. In the 20th century, an art revival, which combined both tradition and modern techniques, produced many notable poets, painters and sculptors who contributed to the inventory of public artworks, especially in Baghdad. These artists are highly regarded in the Middle East, and some have earned international recognition. The Iraqi modern art movement had a profound influence on pan-Arab art generally.

The One Dimension Group was a modern art collective founded in Iraq, by Shakir Hassan Al Said in 1971 which attempted to combine medieval Sufi traditions with contemporary, abstract art. Although the One Dimension Group was founded in Iraq, its members originated from across Arab nations, and its influence was felt across the Arab art world.

The Hurufiyya movement (Arabic: حروفية ḥurufiyyah, adjectival form ḥurufī, 'letters' is an aesthetic movement that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century amongst Muslim artists, who used their understanding of traditional Islamic calligraphy within the precepts of modern art. By combining tradition and modernity, these artists worked towards developing a culture specific visual language, which instilled a sense of national identity in their respective nation states, at a time when many of these states where shaking off colonial rule and asserting their independence. They adopted the same name as the Hurufi, an approach of Sufism which emerged in the late 14th–early 15th century. Art historian Sandra Dagher has described Hurufiyya as the most important movement to emerge in Arabic art in the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khaled al-Rahal</span> Iraqi painter and sculptor (1926–1987)

Khaled Al-Rahal was an Iraqi painter and sculptor and one of the leaders of the modern art movement in Iraq. Described as one of the "pillars of modern Iraqi art," he was responsible for executing a number of high-profile public monuments in Baghdad in the mid-20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hafidh al-Droubi</span>

Hafidh Al Droubi (1914-1991) was an Iraqi painter and draughtsman, noted for his Cubist paintings and for his approach to professionalising Iraqi art education in the early to mid 20th-century. He was a prolific painter, an important artist in the Pioneer generation, a key figure in the development of modernism in Iraq and a key figure in the development of early Iraqi art education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom Monument (Baghdad)</span>

Freedom Monument, located in al-Tahrir Square in the center of Baghdad, capital of Iraq, is the city's most well-known and well-loved monument.

Salim al-Dabbagh is an Iraqi painter and installation artist noted for abstract work that references Iraqi traditions. He was one of the founders of the Innovationists Group; an artists' collective that helped to shape modern art in Iraq and was the Head of the Graphic Department at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad from 1971 to 2000.

Mohammed Hajji Selim (1883-1941) was among the first generation of modern Iraqi artists to receive a European arts education. He was a talented amateur artist who produced still lifes, landscapes and portraits, most of which have not survived. He is mainly remembered as the patriarch of an artistic dynasty and as the father of the distinguished sculptor, Jawad Saleem.

Nida Kadhim is an Iraqi sculptor, noted for producing a number of monumental works for Baghdad's city centre, some of which are still standing, while others were demolished or looted following the 2003 Iraqi invasion.

Ali Talib is an Iraqi painter, noted for his abstract works and for curating exhibitions featuring Iraqi artists.

Kadhim Haydar (1932–1985) was a highly respected Iraqi artist, poet, author, stage-set designer and educator who, as part of the first generation of modern Iraqi artists, had a major influence on the direction of modern Iraqi art. His artworks are noted for their use of symbolism, myth and poetic allegory within a contemporary framework.

Saleh al-Jumai'e is an Iraqi artist noted for his works that explore the notion of tracks left by ancient heritage. His works often integrate Arabic calligraphy in an abstract artwork.

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Further reading