Ardash Kakafian

Ardash Kakafian was born to an Armenian family in Mosul in 1941. Iraq in the 1940s and 1950s was undergoing a cultural renaissance which spanned across architecture, literature and the arts. Sotheby’s is honoured to be presenting this pivotal work by Kakafian, which showcases an evocative and intimate exploration of trauma, identity and the human condition.

Immersed in the local art scene at the time, Kakafian grew into becoming an instrumental member of the Baghdad Modern Art Group that was founded by Jewad Selim. He further developed his artistic practice by training in 1960 at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.

Unlike many of his Iraqi contemporaries, Kakafian was renowned for the breadth of his oeuvre. Exploring Chinese inkwork, expressionism, miniatures throughout his practice he also interestingly spent time creating avant-garde political propaganda posters during the rise of Arab Nationalism in the 1960s. Produced in the late 1960s and 1990s, the present example pays homage to pain, sadism and identity. Grappling with both myth and memory, Kakafian is described as an “explorer of a self-diaspora,” by celebrated Egyptian modernist artist and dear friend Ahmed Morsi, who also articulately characterised his oeuvre as “an eloquent mesh of personal architecture and poetry” (Exh. Cat., Washington D.C., Alif Gallery, Ardash, 15 May - 15 June 1986).