LONDON.- Alongside the annual spring Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art auction on 21 April at Bonhams New Bond Street, the Islamic and Indian Art department will unveil ‘A Century of Iraqi Modernism’, a comprehensive sale showcasing the major Iraqi artists and artistic movements of the 20th century. The auction will be the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

Dr. Nada Shabout, Professor of Art History and the Director of the Contemporary Arab and Muslim Studies Initiative at the University of Texas, said that the ‘small but important collection of works’ in the auction at Bonhams ‘testifies to the creativity and innovation of modern Iraqi artists. The works present examples of historical trajectories that were dominant in setting the rhythms of modern Iraqi art throughout the 20th century.’

A particular highlight of the collection is a portrait of the celebrated Iraqi poet and academic, Lamea Abbas Amara, by Jewad Selim (1919-1961), which is estimated at £60,000-100,000. Selim was a sculptor and painter, born in Ankara in modern-day Turkey. After studying in Europe, Selim returned to Iraq and was appointed Head of the Sculpture Department at Baghdad’s Fine Art Institute, a position he retained until his death. His most famous work is The Freedom Monument in Tahrir Square, which commemorates the 1958 revolution.

Lamea Abbas Amara, the subject of the portrait, was a student of Selim’s at the Institute. She became a celebrated poet – she popularised free verse in Iraq and became the country’s foremost champion of gender equality and social justice – but it was during her course of studies that the portrait was painted, and she sat for Selim after class four times a week for a month. When the work was completed, she asked Selim if he would sign it. The artist replied that he would not since he intended never to sell it. It remained in his collection until his death in 1961.

Lamea is a perfect representation of the influence of European art on Selim’s work, recalling the palette and textural qualities of post-impressionists like Cézanne and Toulouse Lautrec. In his early life, Selim was sent to Europe on government scholarships, first to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and then to the Academia di Belle Arti in Rome, and during the war he became acquainted with several Polish officers who were painters, two of whom had studied with Pierre Bonnard.

Another highlight is Cubist Cockerel (1955) by Shakir Hassan Al-Said (1925-2004), a student of Jewad Selim who, together with his teacher, formed the first modern art movement in Iraq in 1951: The Baghdad Group of Modern Art. The movement was defined by the attempt to reconcile the impressive visual legacy of Iraq’s past with the contemporary narrative of modern Iraq, assimilating Mesopotamian iconography and Islamo-Arabic motifs with modern imagery.

The cockerel, a traditional symbol of sustenance and nourishment, is a recurring motif in Arabic culture, and was often the subject for ancient pottery, metalwork and embroidery. It is also the bird which wakes the Islamic world for morning prayer, signalling the coming of the day. Executed in a rich Expressionist palette according to the visual language of the European cubists, this most traditional of Iraqi motifs is brought firmly into the present.

A third highlight is Still Life (1941) by Mohammad ‘Hajji’ Selim (1883-1941), the father of Jewad Selim. The work, estimated at £30,000-40,000, shows the influence of Cézanne, and the composition consists of robust, chromatically varied and distinctly Middle Eastern fruits: the cantaloupe, watermelon and pomegranate.

Nima Sagharchi, Head of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art at Bonhams, said: ‘Iraq has been one of the most creatively fertile areas in the region, and it is important for the international market to recognise the achievements that Iraqi art has made, despite the difficult circumstances the country has faced. It is hoped that our auction, in bringing together some of the most important works from this period, will lead to the emergence of a new perspective on the contemporary cultural history in Iraq.’