Ottoman Painters of Iraq
The first stages of the serious development of plastic art in Iraq started with the founders, whom we can call “Ottoman Painters.”
Batas Village in Rawanduz, Northern Iraq (1930) by Abdul Qadir RASSAMIbrahimi Collection
Who are They?
They are a group of Iraqi officers who graduated from the Military Academy in Istanbul at the beginning of the twentieth century and learned drawing within the military sciences they've studied.
Their passion for drawing distinguished them from the rest of their peers among the Ottoman officers, and they continued practicing realistic drawing in a European manner.
Scene from AlBadia (1918) by Abdul Qadir RASSAMIbrahimi Collection
They are Abdul Qadir Rassam (1882-1952), Asem Hafidh (1886-1978), Mohamed Saleh Zaki (1888-1973), Mohammad Al-Hajj Selim (1883-1941), Shawkat Al-Rassam, among many others.
They acquired their skills, trained, and were contemporaries of the great Ottoman Turkish painters.
Still Life by Asem HAFEDHIbrahimi Collection
During that period, the masters of modern Turkish art included Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910), Sulaiman Sait (1842-1913), Halil Pasha (1857-1939), Hoca Ali Reza (1858-1930), Hüseyin Zekai Pasha (1860-1919), Şevket Dağ (1876-1944), and others.
The artistic style they adhered to called for a departure from traditional practices such as miniature art, wall paintings, or drawings under glass. Instead, they advocated for a more academic approach to drawing.
According to the simulation principle, attention to light, shadow, aerial perspective, and color harmony.
From Istanbul (1918) by Mohamed Saleh ZAKIIbrahimi Collection
In terms of both form and content: the Iraqi artist now engages directly with nature itself, drawing inspiration from its themes, and the aesthetic values it expresses. As is the case of the depictions of people or inanimate objects.
In short, what happened now was a shift towards the visible world as the primary source of painting and imagination, and abstract modification no longer had the known and previous role in Islamic manuscript drawings.
Gold Village (1918) by Mohamed Saleh ZAKIIbrahimi Collection
The twentieth century in Iraq was transformed from a collective identity under Ottoman rule into a national, secular one that aimed to represent the hopes of a nation in the making.
The different experiments by art groups and individual artists speak of a people’s journey as they constructed their new society, culture, and modern values.
Explore the artistic wonders of Ibrahimi Collection more by checking out the 2-part exhibit series: Female Artists Reflect on Iraqi Life Through Art
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