Lot 50: Kadhim Hayder (Iraq, 1932-1985) A Beautiful Form,

A Beautiful Form, oil on canvas, signed upper left, further signed, titled and inscribed No.47 The Angle Group/ First Exhibition/ National Gallery of Modern Art/ Baghdad in English and Arabic and dated 1967 in Arabic on the reverse, framed, 51.4 x 63.8cm (20 1/4 x 25 1/8in).

Provenance:
Private UK collection; acquired in Baghdad in the 1960s and thence by descent.

Exhibited:
The Angle Group, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, 1967, number 47.

Hayder's first exhibiton in 1965 was heralded as a landmark in modern Iraqi art. The style in which he depicted the theme of that exhibiton was heavy in symbological forms and was created within a new artistic framework that was considered rebellious in both form an content.

Al-Zawiya, 'The Angle Group' was established against a highly poloitical backdrop which garnered profound emotional and intellectual responses throughout the Arab region.

The group was led by Faeq Hassan and its members advocated that art should explore nationalistic and political themes. The group's only exhibiton was held in 1967 in which this painting was exhibited. Other members of this important group included Ismail Fattah (lot 45 & 46), Mohammed Ghani Hikmet and Ghazi Saudi.

Published and Illustrated:
Nizar Salim,L'Art contemporain en Iraq. I. La peinture., Sartec, Lausanne, 1977, p.82

Further Literature:
Wijdan Ali (ed.), Contemporary Art from the Islamic World, Scorpio Publishing Ltd on behalf of the Royal Society of Fine Arts, Jordan, 1989, p.164
Maysaloun Faraj (ed.), Strokes of Genius, Contemporary Iraqi Art, Saqi Books, London 2001, p.26