Hassan Massoudy

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

Condition: (I) This work is in very good condition. It is sold as framed. (II) This work is in very good condition. It is sold as framed. (III) This work is in very good condition. There is very minor creasing mark on top centre. It is sold as framed.
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(I) On ne peut trouver de poésie nulle part quand on n'en porte pas en soi - Joubert 1754-1824
(II) Nous n'avons eu qu'à faire ployer les rameaux de l'amour
Dont les fruits s'offraient à nous,
pour en cueillir autant que nous désirions. - Ibn Zaydoun XI s.
(III) Si tu diffères de moi, frère, loin de me léser, tu m'enrichis. - Antoine de St. Exupéry

(I) You cannot find poetry anywhere if you do not hold it within yourself- Joubert 1754-1824
(II) We just have to bend the branches of love
Whose fruits are presented to us
To pick as many as we desire- - Ibn Zaydoun XI century
(III) If you are different from me, brother, it's not wrong, on the contrary you enrich me - Antoine de St. Exupéry

Iraq's most famous contemporary calligrapher and an internationally acclaimed artist, these three works epitomise Hassan Massoudy's virtuoso penmanship and remarkable use of colour.

Born and raised in the profoundly religious town of Najaf, Hassan Massoudy's practice was dominated by a strict code of artistic conduct that prohibited figurative representation. Massoudy therefore invested his time in creating drawings and calligraphies driven by his immediate cultural context.

In 1961, Massoudy chose to leave Najaf and relocated to Baghdad where he was apprenticed to a number of calligraphers. Immersion in Baghdad's burgeoning art scene encouraged the artist to dedicate himself to his calling. But the political events that followed forced Massoudy to leave his native Iraq for Paris, and in 1969 he began his studies at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts where he experimented with figurative painting. But for Massoudy it was impossible to discard his love of calligraphy and the Arabic language; whilst studying he would design the headlines for Arabic magazines, and in time it became his sole focus. Massoudy had come full circle.

His passion was calligraphy and his muse was philosophy, the words and letters he paints are intellectually driven manifestations of philosophy and emotion. Massoudy is a master of penmanship producing works of controlled energy in exquisitely balanced compositions; departing from tradition in his bright palette, the dynamism of his sweeping brushstrokes and his experimentation with light and performance.

In these three vivid works, Massoudy presents lines from three very different writers: the eighteenth century French moral philosopher Joseph Joubert, the celebrated author of Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the eleventh century Moorish poet Ibn Zaydoun who is renowned for reviving Andalusian poetry. By combining such a broad spectrum of European literary references, Massoudy's brush strokes bring fresh nuances to the Arabic word, informing this distinctly Islamic art with European literature and philosophy. In many ways east and west do finally meet here in Massoudy's work.