50
Hafidh Al-Droubi (Iraqi, 1914-1991)
Estimate:
€4,000 - €6,000
Passed
Live Auction
Irish & International Art
Size
36 by 19in. (91.4 by 48.3cm)
Description
Title: BAGHDAD STREET SCENE, 1988
Note: Born in Baghdad in 1914, Hafidh Al Droubi made several important contributions to the history of modern art in Iraq, including the establishment of Baghdad’s first free atelier in 1942 and the 1953 founding of the artist collective, The Impressionists. Dedicated to art education more so than a particular style or mode of working, the Impressionists encompassed artists practising in a variety of styles and techniques.Al Droubi’s own paintings are characterised by an interest in scenes of Iraqi daily life, executed in a technique that moved from an Impressionist focus on the effects of light on form to one that experimented with Cubism’s fragmentation of space.Like many of his predecessors and colleagues in the Arab world, Al Droubi travelled abroad to Rome in 1936 for training. In 1940, he returned to Baghdad for a few months before continuing his studies at London’s Goldsmith College, graduating in 1950. Upon his return to the Iraqi capital, he was an active member of the city’s growing art scene, chairing the Iraqi Plastic Artists for six years and serving as the dean of the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad.
Note: Born in Baghdad in 1914, Hafidh Al Droubi made several important contributions to the history of modern art in Iraq, including the establishment of Baghdad’s first free atelier in 1942 and the 1953 founding of the artist collective, The Impressionists. Dedicated to art education more so than a particular style or mode of working, the Impressionists encompassed artists practising in a variety of styles and techniques.Al Droubi’s own paintings are characterised by an interest in scenes of Iraqi daily life, executed in a technique that moved from an Impressionist focus on the effects of light on form to one that experimented with Cubism’s fragmentation of space.Like many of his predecessors and colleagues in the Arab world, Al Droubi travelled abroad to Rome in 1936 for training. In 1940, he returned to Baghdad for a few months before continuing his studies at London’s Goldsmith College, graduating in 1950. Upon his return to the Iraqi capital, he was an active member of the city’s growing art scene, chairing the Iraqi Plastic Artists for six years and serving as the dean of the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad.
Medium
oil on canvas
Signature
signed and dated in Arabic lower right; with location in English and inscribed in Arabic on reverse
Provenance
A gift from the artist's widow to the present owner
