Iraqi Artist Mahmoud Sabri’s Intertwined Nature of Hope and Despair

LONDON | 30 APRIL

An outspoken dissident of Iraq’s government in the 1950s, Mahmoud Sabri was forced into exile. He studied in Moscow from 1959 – 1963, where he was influenced by the Soviet Realist style – which used an idealized, realistic approach. The four years he spent in Moscow are considered his most important period. Many sketches of this painting exist from that period, which testify to the importance with which he treated the work. In this episode of Anatomy of an Artwork, discover the pain, anger and grief in his work, Al Mawt Al-Tafl (The Death of a Child), which is a highlight of our upcoming sale, 20th Century Art / Middle East (30 April | London). Click here to watch more videos.

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