Faik Hassan

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Faik Hassan’s earned the title ‘father of Iraqi Modern art’ due to his talent as both an artist and an educator. Throughout his life he embraced diverse styles that traversed the juncture of East and West with a delicate balance that sidestepped mere imitation. Trained in Europe, he embraced European Impressionism, Realism, and Expressionism. He forged a wholly unique modern style by seamlessly intertwining his Western education with traditional Iraqi influences, including local textile designs, Islamic abstraction, and elements of Mesopotamian cuneiform. Hassan was amongst the first group of renowned Iraqi artists to receive a scholarship granted by the new Iraqi monarchy to study in Europe at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Upon his return to Baghdad in 1938, he supported the establishment of the Institute of Fine Arts’ Department of Painting & Sculpture as director and co-founded seminal artist groups like Société Primitive (1940, the Pioneers Group) and al-Zawiya (1962, the Corner Group). His participation in three solo exhibitions in Baghdad (1962, 1967, 1971) and at a seminal Iraqi art exhibition in Beirut in 1965 spotlighted his artistry during his lifetime. He was also the recipient of the 1964 Golden Prize of the Gulbenkian Foundation.