Sunday, February 27, 2022

01 Painting, Middle East Artists, Kadhim Hayder's Divine Horses, with Footnotes, #44

Kadhim Hayder, (IRAQ, 1932-1985)
Divine Horses (From the Marty's Epic)
Oil on canvas, c. 1965
70 x 100cm (27 9/16 x 39 3/8in)
Private collector
Ten mythical white horses, their abstracted bodies collapsed together in grief, wail out to a bare, nocturnal landscape. An isolated green horse turns his body away from the group, exiled under a blood red moon. This painting is from one of Iraqi artist Kadhim Hayder’s most notable series, The Epic of the Martyr, based on a poem the artist wrote in 1965, and exhibited that year at the new National Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad. The poem references the eighth century Battle of Karbala, which resulted in the death of the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson, Hussein Ibn Ali; an event that is commemorated annually through public mourning rituals. The work references this significant moment of martyrdom in Islamic history as an allegory for the tumultuous and rapidly transforming political context of Iraq following the 1963 coup in which many suspected dissidents and political opponents were killed. According to the artist Dia Azzawi, Hayder introduced in this series a new paradigm in Iraqi modernism by drawing on history and cultural memory as motifs, isolated from direct narrative reference, that served as allegories for the present. More on this painting


Kadhim Hayder is among the most revered members of Iraq’s modernist movement and was a member of a number of artists groups. Merging his interests in literature, symbolism and daily life, Hayder articulated multiple levels of readings in his painting practice. He studied painting at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad and later attended the Royal College of Art in London to study theatre design and printmaking from 1961 to 1962. After his return to Iraq and infused with a sense of pan-Arab identity, he introduced a new paradigm to his representational style. He focused on the eighth century Battle of Karbala, which resulted in the death of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussein ibn Ali, creating a series of paintings known as Melhamet al-Shahid, or The Martyr’s Epic. An analysis of Hayder’s approach suggests that he re-contextualised the practice of taziya (mourning) through poetry and theatrical re-enactments of the battle. Hayder’s work was exhibited frequently in the 1970s, including at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and Baghdad's First Arab Biennial in 1974. More on Kadhim Hayder




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Sunday, February 20, 2022

01 Painting, Middle East Artists, Dia Azzawi's Portrait of the Non Existent Bird, with Footnotes, #43

Dia Azzawi, (IRAQ, BORN 1939)
Portrait of the Non Existent Bird
Print in hand painted artists box, c. 2005
45 x 32 cm
Private collection

Born in Baghdad in 1939, Dia Azzawi started his artistic career in 1964, after graduating from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad and completing a degree in archaeology from Baghdad University in 1962.

In 1969, Azzawi (with Rafa Nasiri, Mohammad Muhriddin, Ismail Fattah, Hachem al-Samarchi and Saleh al Jumaie) formed the New Vision group (al-Ru’yya al-Jadidah), uniting fellow artists ideologically and culturally as opposed to stylistically. Through his involvement with the New Vision group Azzawi found inspiration in contemporary subjects and issues, particularly the plight of the Palestinians. He was also briefly a member of Shakir Hassan Al Said’s One Dimension group (Jama’t al-Bu’d al-Wahid).

From 1968 to 1976, Azzawi was the director of the Iraqi Antiquities Department in Baghdad. He has lived in London since 1976, where he served as art advisor to the city’s Iraqi Cultural Centre, from 1977 to 1980. Azzawi’s move to London led him to rediscover book art (dafatir), an art form that he has encouraged other artists from Iraq and the region to explore.

With exhibitions of his work have been held in international, private and public collections including the Museums of Modern Art in Baghdad, Damascus and Tunis; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; Kinda Foundation, Saudi Arabia; Una Foundation, Casablanca; Arab Monetary Fund, Abu Dhabi; Development Fund, Kuwait; Jeddah International Airport; British Museum, Tate Modern, and Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Institut du Monde Arabe, Bibliothèque Nationale de France and Colas Foundation, Paris; Harba Collection, Iraq and Italy; Gulbenkian Collection, Barcelona; and Library of Congress and the World Bank, Washington, DC. More on Dia Azzawi




Please visit my other blogs: Art CollectorMythologyMarine ArtPortrait of a Lady, The OrientalistArt of the Nude and The Canals of VeniceMiddle East Artists365 Saints and 365 Days, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.