Faeq Hassan (also known as Faiq Hassan, Fayiq Hassan or Faik 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.'
Life and career
Hassan was born in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
in 1914 into a poor family. His father had died before the infant, Hassan, was born. As a child, he helped his mother who made folkloric clay statues of Arab
Bedouins and local farmers. As a young boy, he visited his uncle who was working as a gardener for
King Faisal I
Faisal I bin Al-Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi ( ar, فيصل الأول بن الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, ''Faysal el-Evvel bin al-Ḥusayn bin Alī el-Hâşimî''; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria ...
where the King saw the boy drawing a horse. Recognising his talent, the King promised to give the young artist a scholarship. However, the King died in 1933 before he could carry out his promise.
During the early 1930s, Hassan gave art lessons at a local school, and when the new
King Faisal II
Faisal II ( ar, الملك فيصل الثاني ''el-Melik Faysal es-Sânî'') (2 May 1935 – 14 July 1958) was the last King of Iraq. He reigned from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was killed during the 14 July Revolution. This regici ...
visited his school, he ordered that Hassan be sent to Paris to study art, thus fulfilling his father's earlier promise to the young boy. Hassan was also allocated a private French tutor so that he could learn French prior to his departure. He graduated from the
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
in 1938. Hassan was one a very small group of artists sent to study abroad. On their return to Iraq, this group became the cornerstone of modern art in Iraq.
On his return to Baghdad, Hassan founded the Painting Department at the
Fine Arts Institute in 1939-1940 in conjunction with his friend, artist and sculptor,
Jawad Saleem
Jewad Selim (1919–1961) ( ar, جواد سليم) 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 ...
. He also founded the ''Al-Ruwad'' (The Pioneers Group), in the 1930s and was its President for many years. The group attempted to incorporate local phenomena into art. They rejected the artificial atmosphere of the artist's studio and encouraged artists to engage with nature and traditional Iraqi life and held their first exhibition in 1931. This group was responsible for taking the first steps towards bridging the gap between modernity and heritage. Artists active in this group, like Hassan, had been educated abroad, returned with a European aesthetic, yet wanted to paint local scenes and landscapes. Members included:
Jawad Saleem
Jewad Selim (1919–1961) ( ar, جواد سليم) 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 ...
, Ismail al Sheikhli, Kamil Chadirji,
Mohammed Ghani Hikmat
Mohammad Ghani Hikmat (April 20, 1929 – September 12, 2011) ( ar, محمد غني حكمت) 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 sculpt ...
and Nadhim Ramzi.
In 1950, Hassan established the ''
Avantgarde Group'' (also known as the ''Primitive Group'' or the ''Societe Primitive''); a group of local artists that attempted to incorporate local phenomena into art. Inspired by Mespotamian art and Iraqi folklore, the group was led by Hassan along with artist, Isma'il al-Shaykhali (Turkey b. 1927). This group was inspired by the 13th-century
Baghdad School.
In 1962, he founded the ''al-Zawiya'' (the Corners Group) with the objective of using art to focus on social and political issues, and serve national interests.
For most of his working life, he was a member of the Iraqi Artists' Society. He died in 1992 from heart failure.
Work
Hassan was a highly experimental painter. At different times, he explored the visual possibilities of
Cubism,
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
and
Abstract art, amongst other genres. As an art student, he had been heavily influenced by impressionism, but as he matured his work became more and more abstract. However, from a commercial standpoint, he found that impressionist works were popular and sold well, accordingly he returned again and again to that style.
Hassan participated exhibitions until 1967; including the first exhibition of his newly formed, Corner Groups. He also took part in the Friends of Art Society in 1943 and 1946.
Gallery
Select list of artworks
* ''The Tent'', oil on wood, 80 X 90 cm, 1956
* ''Celebration of Victory'', mosaic mural, public work, Tiran Square, Baghdad, 1967
* ''The History of Iraq'', oil on canvas, triptych, 186.5 x 300 cm (per panel), c. 1970
* ''Village Life'', oil on canvas, 1971
* ''A Horseman'', oil on canvas, 1980s
* ''Two Men'', oil on canvas, date unknown
* ''Abstract Couple'', oil on canvas, date unknown
* ''The Groom'', oil on canvas, date unknown
Exhibitions
* Participated in the Avicenna Exhibition in Baghdad in 1952.
[Bloom, J. and Blair, S.S. (eds), ''Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture,'' Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 141]
* Organized a number of one-man exhibitions in Baghdad, in 1962-1967 and 1971.
* Participated in most national exhibitions outside
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
.
* Joined nine artists in the Iraq Art Exhibition in Beirut in 1965.
See also
*
Iraqi art
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 Med ...
*
Islamic art
Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...
*
List of Iraqi artists
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.
Note: This article uses Arabic nami ...
*
Fathi Safwat Kirdar
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassan, Faeq
1914 births
1992 deaths
20th-century Iraqi painters
20th-century sculptors
Abstract painters
Abstract sculptors
Artists from Baghdad
Iraqi calligraphers
Iraqi sculptors