Shakir Hassan Al-Said (1925-2004) was a prominent Iraqi painter, sculptor, writer and art critic. Born in Samawah, between Baghdad and Basra, he studied in the capital’s Institute of Fine Arts under the tutorship of Jawad Salim then at the Beaux-Arts de Paris. In 1951, Shakir Hassan Al-Said and Jawad Salim founded “Jama’et Baghdad lil Fann al-Hadith” (The Baghdad Modern Art Group). The group’s manifesto expressed an intention to go towards a new artistic trend that would reconnect with the tradition of 13th-century painting. In 1971, Al-Said founded a new movement, “Al Bu’d al Wahad” (One Dimension Group) that was more deeply integrated into Sufi roots and aimed to distance itself from Western art. 

The two works on paper proposed in this auction are representative of Shakir Hassan Al-Said’s philosophy after he turned towards Sufism and integrated Arabic inscriptions into abstract art. As Sonja Mejcher-Atassi explains, “Al Said borrows elements of calligraphy but places them in a contemporary context. Linked to popular and spontaneous expressions, his paintings make use of Arabic writing in the form of mural inscriptions, graffiti, and signs scribbled on a city wall. As such, they can be compared to those of the Catalan artist Antoni Tàpies, to whom Al Said referred explicitly in his writings.”

Drop of Ink is part of the series Tracing and language and walls and was referred to in several articles and lectures made by the artist regarding this concept.