London – Important works by 'The Pioneers' of Iraqi Modernism – including Jewad Selim (1919-1961), Dia Azzawi (1939-), Kadhim Hayder (1932-1985), Faeq Hassan (1914-1992) and Shakir Hassan Al-Said (1925-2004) – from the collections of the renowned Iraqi architects, Mohammed Makiya (1914-2015) and Said Ali Madhloom (1921-2017), will be offered at Bonhams' Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern Art sale on 2 June in London. The curated selection will bring together the central figures of the movement and will feature a number of important sculptures from the 'father of Iraqi Modernism', Jewad Selim – including Mother and Child (estimate: £60,000 - 100,000), Motherhood (estimate: £40,000 - 60,0000), and Standing Woman (estimate: £12,000 - 20,000).
Nima Sagharchi, Bonhams Director of Islamic, Middle Eastern and South Asian Art, commented: "If the spirit of Modern Iraqi art could be captured in a single group of works, then this would be it. Stretching from the formative years of Iraqi modernism through to its later development, this sale is testament not only to the creative endeavours of the artists, but the foresight, passion, and care of two visionary collectors who ensured the survival of these treasures for posterity. The renowned architects, Mohammed Makiya and Said Ali Madhloom, were themselves central figures in Iraqi Modernism, who began collecting Iraqi modern art in 1950s' Baghdad. Their impressive, and historically important, collections, feature significant works by their friends and peers: Jewad Selim, Dia Azzawi, Kadhim Hayder, and Shakir Hassan Al-Said. The works in this auction are some of the most widely published, extensively exhibited and recognisable examples of Iraqi modernism."
Emerging during Iraqi's postcolonial period, Iraqi Modernism was deeply rooted in the country's rich artistic past: the treasures of the Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian cultures of Mesopotamia, and the great works of medieval Islamic craft. It was also greatly inspired by the European avant-garde. Bringing together elements of local heritage and currents of international artistic modernity, Iraqi modernism strove to create a distinctive new secular style, both modern and revolutionary.
One of the standout lots of the sale will be the sculpture Mother and Child by Jewad Selim. The work, which has an estimate of £60,000 - 100,000, was executed upon Selim's return to Iraq after his time studying at the Slade – where he was a pupil of both Henry Moore, and Reg Butler. Exploring Selim's own interest in motherhood, the work also combines the soft lyrical curvature and smoothness of Moore, as well as the distinct, mechanical wire sculptures of the "Geometry of Fear" movement, of which Butler was a leading protagonist. Selim considered the Mother and Child theme a universal subject 'from the beginning of time' – an 'inexhaustible' motif that offered multiple sculptural possibilities. Jewad's fixation with the Mother and Child can also be seen in straightforward compositional terms – the relationship of a small form with a big form – and ideas of protection and nurture. In its novel use of material, its anatomical framework, and kineticism, Selim's sculptural composition in Mother and Child is unlike anything produced in Iraq at the time.
Mother and Child was part of Selim's own personal collection and was a favourite toy of the artist's daughter, Miriam. Upon their sudden departure from Baghdad in 1971, Miriam and Selim's wife Lorna were unable to transport the fragile work to London, and decided to give it to Said Ali Madhloom, who continued to care the delicate work, even after he himself later resettled in the United Kingdom.
Miriam Selim, the artist's daughter, commented: "I used to play with the Mother and Child and wanted to bring them with me to England, but my mother couldn't, so she left them with Said Ali Madhloom. I am delighted that one of my childhood loves is safe."
The sculpture has been shown in more than eight major exhibitions, including Jewad's one-man touring show of the United States, a travelling exhibition which received critical acclaim and was widely reported on in the US media. The work also featured in Selim's landmark retrospective exhibition at the Baghdad National Museum in 1968.
The 1940s and 1950s were decades of increased art consciousness in Iraq. Conversations between artists, architects, poets, and other intellectuals, led to more organized groups and movements – Said Ali Madhloom (along with his bother Medhat) and Mohammed Makiya were part of these conversations. Both studied architecture in Liverpool and, after their return to Iraq in the 1940s, they became prolific members of the Baghdad art scene. The Madhloom brothers joined Iraq's first art group, the Friends of Art Society, where they engaged with many of Iraq's main modernists, like Jewad Selim and Hafidh al-Droubi. Makiya, who participated in the initial meetings in 1955, became the first elected President for the Iraqi Plastic Arts Association in 1956.
In the 1960s, Makiya, with Said Ali Madhloom and Henry Zvobodal, founded the al-Wasiti gallery. As the first commercial gallery, the space played a pivotal role in introducing artists, facilitating public exhibitiona and widening participation in the art market. The gallery organized important and first solo exhibitions for artists such as Kadhim Hayder and Dia Azzawi. After leaving Iraq in 1971, Makiya would continue his engagement with Iraq's artists through establishing the Kufa Gallery in London.
Other highlights of the collections include:
• One of the stand-out lots of the sale by Jewad Selim will be Women Waiting. The work, which was painted in 1943, was gifted by Selim to his close friend Said Ali Madhloom. Mixing traditional Iraqi and Islamic motifs with a modernist visual language, Women Waiting was executed during Jewad's key transitional period during his five-year stay in Baghdad after returning from Rome and before enrolling at the Slade. Depicting the prostitutes who waited in the back alleys of Baghdad, Selim's Women Waiting is a powerful commentary on the plight of a generation of Iraqi women whose fate and destiny were tied to the men for whom they were "waiting"; either for their custom or for marriage – transition into adulthood being dependant on the presence of a male provider. Not only was Women Waiting exhibited at Jewad's first-ever solo exhibition, but it also featured in his major 1968 retrospective at the Baghdad National Museum.
• How He Wandered with the Heart of a Martyr by Kadhim Hayder (Iraq, 1932-1985). Estimate: £100,000 - 150,000. From the collection of the renowned Iraqi architect Said Ali Madhloom (1921-2017).
• El-Allabat (The Curd Sellers) by Faeq Hassan (Iraq, 1914-1992). Estimate: £25,000-50,000. From the collection of the renowned Iraqi architect Mohammed Saleh Makiya (1914-2015).
• Hob al-Watan min al Iman (With Love of Motherland and Faith), by Shakir Hassan Al Said (Iraq, 1925-2004). Estimate: £60,000 - 100,000. Property from the collection of the renowned Iraqi architect Mohammed Saleh Makiya (1914-2015).
• Oh Ali! by Dia Azzawi (Iraq, born 1939). Estimate: £40,000 - 60,000. Formerly property from the collection of the renowned Iraqi architect Said Ali Madhloom (1921-2017).
Mohammed Saleh Makiya (1914-2015) was one of the first Iraqis to gain formal qualifications in architecture. He is noted for establishing Iraq's first Department of Architecture at the University of Baghdad and for his architectural designs which incorporated Islamic motifs such as calligraphy in an effort to combine Arabic architectural elements within contemporary works.
Said Ali Madhloom (1921-2017), and his brother Medhat Ali Madhloom, established their own architecture office in 1950. They were amongst the first Iraqi architects of the period – at that time, most architects in the country were British, and traditional architecture and building techniques were being replaced by western notions. Their work was considered to be some of the most experimental of the period.
10th May 2021