Mohammed Ghani Hikmat

(Iraq, 1929-2011)

Iraq Rises

Footnotes

Provenance:
Property from a private collector, Amman
Commissioned by the above directly from the Artist in 2006

"The modulation of sculpted lines in my figures, has been one of the focal points of my work for many years; what drew me in particular to the configuration of these forms is the dual appearance of both conflict and interplay between them. The union and fusion of sculpted figures is an integral part of my work and presents us with a constantly changeable relationship between form and meaning" - Mohammad Ghani Hikmat

For a sculptor famed for his monuments it is hard to imagine a more fitting work to encapsulate his oeuvre. Short of a public statue this is the largest and most substantial work by Ghani ever to come to market and demonstrates the artist's skill at harmonising compositions on a large scale. Carved out of a colossal block of Limestone weighing nearly one thousand kilograms, Ghani's composition demonstrates the skill of a virtuoso sculptor in total mastery of craft.

In 1953, Mohammed Ghani Hikmat graduated from the Institute of Fine Art in Baghdad. He then traveled to Rome to train at the Accademia di Belle Arti, graduating in 1959. While in Italy, he also studied metals at the Instituto di Zaka in Florence, specialising in casting bronze. He subsequently taught sculpture at the Baghdad Institute of Fine Art and the College of Architectural Engineering at the University of Baghdad.

During his career, Hikmat was a prolific creator and exhibitor, and an active participant in the growing Iraqi art scene. He held several solo shows in Rome, San Remo, London, Beirut, and Baghdad. He also participated in most major national exhibitions in Iraq. He was a member of the Society of the Friends of Art and later the Al-Zawiya group headed by Faiq Hassan. Significantly, Hikmat was also an influential member of the Baghdad Group of Modern Art (BGMA). Founded by his teachers and friends, Jewad Selim and Shakir Hassan Al-Said, the BGMA was arguably the most important artist society in modern Iraq and was dedicated to the idea that Iraq's heritage held a preeminent place within its modern art practice.

In the 1960s and '70s, Mr. Hikmat created many sculptures that were inspired by the Middle Eastern fables "1,001 Nights." Placed in bustling parts of the city, they include "Kahramana," a sculpture of a woman pouring oil on thieves hiding in jars, and statues of the two main characters of "1,001 Nights," King Shahriyar and Queen Scheherazade. Other sculptures and wood carvings of his depicted idealised scenes of everyday Iraqi life.

Hikmat fled Iraq a month before the United States-led invasion in 2003 and returned shortly after the Hussein regime fell. He found that looters had stolen about 150 of his works from the National Museum and that his studio and many of his sculptures there had been damaged.

Along with his own art production, Hikmat also assisted in major public works initiated by other prominent members of the artistic community. Foremost among them was Jewad Selim's Monument of Freedom for which Hikmat assisted and supervised the casting process in Florence. He also took over the project when Selim died prematurely in 1961. Another project was the much-contested Arch of Victory which stood for decades as a symbol of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship. Hikmat completed the massive installation when its original sculptor Khalid Al-Rahal passed away in 1987. Despite the connection to the Hussein regime, any plans to dismantle the installation are still being hotly debated.