Aziz art May 2018

Shakir Hassan Al Said 1925–2004
an Iraqi painter, sculptor and
writer, is considered one of Iraq's
most innovative and influential
artists.
Biography
Born in Samawa,Al Said lived,
worked and died in Bagdad. He
received in 1948 a degree in
social science from the Higher
Institute of Teachers in Baghdad
and in 1954 a diploma in painting
from the Institute of Fine Arts in
Baghdad where he was taught by
Jawad Saleem.He continued his
studies at the École nationale
supérieure des Beaux-Arts in
Paris until 1959,[6] where he was
taught by Raymond Legueult.
During his stay in Paris, he
discovered Western modern art in
galleries and Sumerian art at the
Louvre.After his return to
Baghdad in 1959, Al Said studied
the work of Yahya ibn
Mahmud al-Wasiti,sufism and
Mansur Al-Hallaj.He gradually
abandoned figurative expressions
and centered his compositions on
Arabic calligraphy.
He co-founded in 1951 with Jawad
Saleem Jama'et Baghdad lil Fann al-
Hadith (Baghdad Modern Art
Group), one of the most unusual
arts movements in the Middle East
in the post–World War II,[9] that
aimed to achieve an artistic
approach both modern and
embracing of tradition.This specific
approach was called Istilham alturath
(Seeking inspiration from
tradition), considered as "the basic
point of departure, to achieve
through modern styles, a cultural
vision".He headed the group after
the death of Saleem in 1961.
In 1971, he founded Al Bu'd al
Wahad (the One Dimension
Group)",which promoted the
modern calligraphic school in Arab
art.This group was part of a broader
Islamic art movement that emerged
independently across North Africa
and parts of Asia in the 1950s and
known as the hurufiyah art
movement. Hurufiyah refers to the
attempt by artists to combine
traditional art forms, notably
calligraphy as a graphic element
within a contemporary atwork.
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