18 Facts About Jawad Saleem

Jawad Saleem was an Iraqi painter and sculptor born in Ankara, Ottoman Empire in 1919.

Jawad Saleem became an influential artist through his involvement with the Iraqi Baghdad Modern Art Group, which encouraged artists to explore techniques that combined both Arab heritage and modern art forms.

Jawad Saleem is considered to be one of Iraq's greatest 20th-century sculptors.

Jawad Saleem was born in Ankara, Ottoman Empire into a middle-class family.

Jawad Saleem's parents were both originally from Mosul in Northern Iraq, and his father, Mohammed Hajji Saleem was a military officer who had been stationed in Ankara at the time of Saleem's birth, but returned to Baghdad in the 1920s, when the children were relatively young.

Jawad Saleem's father was an amateur artist, his mother was an artist and a skilled embroiderer and his brothers, Saud and Nizarre along with his sister, Naziha Salim all became artists.

Jawad Saleem studied sculpture in Paris on a scholarship, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.

Jawad Saleem relocated to Rome, but again his studies were interrupted by war, forcing him to return to Baghdad.

Jawad Saleem's work exposed him to Iraq's ancient art traditions, and he consciously sought to discover the possibilities of combining ancient motifs with within the modern abstract art he had observed in Europe.

Jawad Saleem is generally credited with being the first Iraqi artist to draw on his heritage and guide local artists towards a distinctly Iraqi style.

Jawad Saleem was one of the founders of the Jama'et Baghdad lil Fen al-Hadith with fellow artist Shakir Hassan Al Said and Mohammed Ghani Hikmat ; a group which attempted to combine ancient Iraqi art traditions with modern European techniques.

Jawad Saleem first came to the attention of international audiences in 1952 when his competition entry, The Unknown Political Prisoner was one of 80 selected out of 3,500 entries for exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London and was the only Arab artist to be included in the exhibition.

In 1959, shortly after the 14 July revolution, Jawad Saleem was commissioned by the new leader of the republic, Brigadier General 'Abd al-Karim Qasim to create a monument for the city center that would be a celebration to Iraq's declaration of independence.

Jawad Saleem labored on the project under difficult conditions, resisting all attempts by Qasim to have his image incorporated.

Jawad Saleem is credited as being the most influential artist in Iraq's modern art movement and is said to have brought a 'modern vision' to Iraq.

Jawad Saleem suffered a heart attack and died in the Republican Hospital on 23 January 1961, aged 42.

Jawad Saleem consciously included Assyrian and Babylonian architectural features into his artworks - and was one of the first Iraqi artists to forge links with Iraq's ancient civilizations and their artistic traditions.

Jawad Saleem is especially known for his Nasb al-Hurriyah, located in Tahir Square, one of the main squares in Baghdad's city center.