Jamil Hamoudi (1924–2003) was an Iraqi artist who became the Director of the Ministry of Culture's Fine Arts Department. He is noted for his involvement in various Iraqi and Arabic art movements including the

Hurufiyya movement The Hurufiyya movement ( ar, حروفية ''ḥurufiyyah'', adjectival form ''ḥurufī'', 'letters' (of the alphabet)) is an aesthetic movement that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century amongst Muslim artists, who used their unde ...

which bridged the gap between traditional and modern Iraqi art.

Life and career

Hamoudi started out as a self-taught sculptor 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 ...

. He developed a naturalistic style. In 1944, he was taken on to teach drawing and art history at a school in Baghdad. At the same time he attended classes at the

Baghdad College of Fine Arts The Baghdad College of Fine Arts (now the Institute of Fine Arts) is a faculty of the University of Baghdad. Background Until the early 20th-century there was little development in the visual arts. However, in the 1930s and 40s, a group of talente ...

. He graduated in 1945 and in 1947, took a government scholarship to go to

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, to study at the

École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Science ...

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

, and

École du Louvre The École du Louvre is an institution of higher education and grande école located in the Aile de Flore of the Louvre Palace in Paris, France. It is dedicated to the study of archaeology, art history, anthropology and epigraphy. Admission is ...

. He also Hamoudi researched the Assyrian-Babylonian art and languages. In 1943, he created what has been described as the first Iraqi sculpture; a figure of the 11th-century philosopher-poet,

Al-Maʿarri Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī ( ar, أبو العلاء المعري, full name , also known under his Latin name Abulola Moarrensis; December 973 – May 1057) was an Arab philosopher, poet, and writer. Despite holding a controversially irreli ...

.Beaugé, F. and Clément, J-F., ''L'image dans le Monde Arabe,''CNRS Éditions, 1995, p. 41 By 1947, he was experimenting with abstract paintings using Arabic characters, and as such was one of the early pioneers of hurufiyya art.Inati, S.C., ''Iraq: Its History, People, and Politics,'' Humanity Books, 2003, p.76 This led him on a path to discover the graphic possibilities of the letter in art. Certain art historians regard him as the "founding father" of the

hurufiyya movement The Hurufiyya movement ( ar, حروفية ''ḥurufiyyah'', adjectival form ''ḥurufī'', 'letters' (of the alphabet)) is an aesthetic movement that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century amongst Muslim artists, who used their unde ...

(alphabetical art movement or Letrism movement). However, other scholars have suggested that the movement began somewhat earlier with the work of the Iraqi-American artist,

Madiha Omar Madiha Umar (1908 – 2005 in Aleppo) ( ar, مديحة عمر) was an Iraqi artist who was known for incorporating calligraphy with abstract art. She is generally perceived as the first Arab artist to have done this. Therefore, she is seen as ...

who exhibited huryifiyya artwork in 1949 in Washington. Whether he was the movement's founder, or simply helped to popularise the hurufiyya genre, there can be little doubt that he was a leading light in Iraq's modern art movement. He defined his use of Arabic script in the context of rediscovering his own heritage, amid his studies of European art. He wanted to cling onto his own values and traditions as a means of avoiding being overtaken by experiences outside his own heritage. He wrote that there was nothing more sacred that the Arabic alphabet, saying that his art was "a form of prayer." Hamoudi actively contributed to Iraqi arts culture through his membership of various art groups and societies in Iraq, and by organising exhibitions for up-coming artists, at a time when Iraq had no public galleries. In 1952, he organised an exhibition, entitled ''L'Ensemble "A"'' at the Institut Endoplastique in Paris. In 1971, he became a founding member of the

One Dimension Group The One Dimension Group ( ''Al Bu'd al Wahad'') 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 w ...

, started by his friend and colleague, artist and intellectual,

Shakir Hassan Al Said Shakir Hassan Al Said ( ar, شاكر حسن ال سعيد) (1925–2004), an Iraqi painter, sculptor and writer, is considered one of Iraq's most innovative and influential artists. An artist, philosopher, art critic and art historian, he was act ...

. In 1971 he joined the

when it was founded by

and which sought to use art as a means of developing a sense of national identity. Jamil defined his use of Arabic script as a rediscovery of Iraqi heritage, within the confines of European abstract art. Hamoudi and the art groups in which he was involved were largely responsible for bridging the gap between modernity and heritage, and establishing Iraqi modern art. In 1973 he was appointed as Director of Fine Arts at the Ministry of Culture.

Work

Hamoudi's early works reveal the influence of

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

movement and later he identified himself with the

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

movement. In time, however, he distanced himself from Surrealists, claiming: Ultimately, he developed his own style; one that referenced his Iraqi heritage, but also used modern techniques. His paintings are brightly colored and make use of geometric shapes like circles, triangles and arches, often in repeating patterns, a reference to

Arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...

. For sculpture he frequently used plaster, stone, wood, metal, copper, glass, marble, Plexiglas and ceramics.d

Publications

* ''Peintures, Sculptures, Dessins de Jamil HAMOUDI un artiste de Bagdad'', Paris, Librairie Voyelle, 1950

Select list of paintings and drawings

* ''Sheytan,'' (The Devil), 1942, gouache on paper, 50 X 35 cm * ''Composition Absraite,'' 1950, India ink and watercolor, 32 X 24 cm) * ''Huryfieh ,'' 1982, ink on paper, 70 X 100 cm * ''Surat Abasa,'' 1982, pen on paper, 69 X 69 cm * ''Ezkor Rabbak Eza Nasayt,'' (If Ever Forgetful Mention Allah), 1985 oil on canvas, 87 X 129 cm (now in the collection of the Barjeel Foundation)Barjeel Foundation
Online:
/ref> * ''A Trip to Baghdad,'' 1996, oil on canvas, 69.5 X 69.5 cm

External links

Jamil Hamoudia at Art Iraq
- digital resource maintained by Iraqi artists which includes reproductions of works lost or damaged during the 2003 invasion, and not accessible via any other reliable public source

References