Madiha Umar(1908 – 2005 in Aleppo) (Arabic:مديحة عمر) was an Iraqi artist who was known for incorporating calligraphy with abstract art. She is generally perceived as the first Arab artist to have done this.[1] Therefore, she is seen as the precursor to theHurufiyya movement. Also, Umar was the first woman to receive a scholarship from the Iraqi government to study in Europe.[2] Today her grandson Dara Kittani manages her Estate Collection. To see more about Madiha Umar go to her official website www.madihaumar.com
Madiha Umar | |
|---|---|
| Born | مديحة عمر 1908 |
| Died | 2005 |
| Nationality | Iraqi |
| Education | Sultaniyya School,Istanbul;Maria Grey Training College,London; George Washington University, Washington (education);Corcoran School of Art, Washington (fine arts) |
| Known for | Abstract art, Modern Arab art |
| Notable work | Madiha Umar Estate Collection under responsibility of Dara Kittani, her grandsonwww.madihaumar.com |
| Movement | One Dimension Group;Hurufiyya movement |
| Spouse | Yasin Umar |
Life and career
editMadiha Umar was born inAleppo,Ottoman Empire, now Syria. Her father wasCircassian and her mother wasSyrian; mixed parentage was typical in the multicultural Turkish Empire.[3] However, the family moved to Iraq when she was a young girl.[3] Umar attended theSultaniyya School inIstanbul, where she drew praise fromAli Riza for her painting skills.[4] She then trained as a teacher at theMaria Grey Training College inLondon in the 1930s, graduating with First class honours in Arts and Crafts in 1933. She then taught painting at theAcademy of Fine Arts inBaghdad, becoming head of department before leaving in 1942.[5] She became a naturalised Iraqi.[6]
In 1939 she married Yasin Umar, a diplomat.[3] In 1942 she moved to Washington, to accompany her husband, whose appointment as a member of the Iraqi Commission took him to the capital.[4] In the US, she came across a book on Arabic calligraphy by Islamic scholar,Nabia Abbott and this inspired her to explore the possibilities of incorporating letters into her artwork.[7]
She first began to explore the idea of integrating Arabic letters into painting in the 1940s and in 1949, with the encouragement of art historian,Richard Ettinghausen, she exhibited a series of 22 hurufist-inspired paintings at Georgetown Public Library in Washington. For this, she generally earns the reputation as the first Arab artist of the modern era to have incorporated Arabic letters into her art, and the first artist to have exhibited such works.[8] Later in the same year, she wrote the book,Arabic Calligraphy: An Element of Inspiration in Abstract Art.
In 1952, Umar participated in theIbn Sina exhibition, held at the Art Institute in Baghdad with 48 paintings, all of which employed Arabic letters in a modern, secular artwork. This event brought her work to the attention of Middle-Eastern artists.[6] She has been variously acclaimed as the pioneer of a movement or as the precursor to the movement that now carries the name,Huryfiyya art movement.[9]
She studied education at the George Washington University; then studied fine arts at theCorcoran School of Art,[10] graduating in 1952 and received aMFA in 1959.[11]
In 1971 she joined theOne Dimension Group founded byShakir Hassan Al Said;[12] a group that sought to synthesise indigenous art with European trends and successfully bridged the gap between heritage and modernity.[13]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"British Museum". Retrieved2015-03-07.
- ^"Meem Gallery". Archived fromthe original on 2018-02-18. Retrieved2015-07-03.
- ^abcOweis, Fayeq (2008).Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists. ABC-CLIO. p. 255.ISBN 9780313337307. Retrieved18 February 2018.
- ^abDagher, Charles; Mahmoud, Samir (2016).Arabic Hurufiyya: Art and Identity. Milan: Skira Editore.ISBN 978-8857231518.
- ^Treichl, C.,Art and Language: Explorations in (Post) Modern Thought and Visual Culture, Kassel University Press, 2017, p.
- ^abNusair, I., "The Cultural Costs of the 2003 US-Led Invasion of Iraq: A Conversation with Art Historian Nada Shabout,"Feminist Studies, Vol. 39, No. 1 (2013), p. 128Online:
- ^Ali, W.,Modern Islamic Art: Development and Continuity, University of Florida Press, 1997, p. 117
- ^Treichl, C.,Art and Language: Explorations in (Post) Modern Thought and Visual Culture, Kassel University Press, 2017, pp. 115-119.
- ^Anima Gallery, "Madiha Omar," [Biographical Notes], Online:https://www.meemartgallery.com/art_resources.php?id=89Archived 2018-05-09 at theWayback Machine; Mavrakis, N., "The Hurufiyah Art Movement in Middle Eastern Art,"McGill Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Blog, Online:https://mjmes.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/article-5/;TuohyArchived 2018-06-11 at theWayback Machine, A. and Masters, C.,A-Z Great Modern Artists, Hachette UK, 2015, p. 56; Dadi. I., "Ibrahim El Salahi and Calligraphic Modernism in a Comparative Perspective,"South Atlantic Quarterly, 109 (3), 2010 pp 555-576, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-2010-006
- ^Treichl, C.,Art and Language: Explorations in (Post) Modern Thought and Visual Culture, Kassel University Press, 2017, p. 117.
- ^"Bonhams: Madiha Omar (Syria, 1908-2005)".www.bonhams.com. Retrieved18 February 2018.
- ^Lack, Jessica (2017).Why Are We 'Artists'?: 100 World Art Manifestos. Penguin UK.ISBN 9780241236338. Retrieved18 February 2018.
- ^Al-Ali, N. and Al-Najjar, D.,We Are Iraqis: Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War, Syracuse University Press, 2013, p. 22; Lindgren, A. and Ross, S.,The Modernist World, Routledge, 2015, p. 495; Mavrakis, N., "The Hurufiyah Art Movement in Middle Eastern Art,"McGill Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Blog, Online:https://mjmes.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/article-5/; Tuohy, A. and Masters, C.,A-Z Great Modern Artists, Hachette UK, 2015, p. 56; Shabout, N.,"Shakir Hassan Al Said: Time and Space in the Work of the Iraqi Artist - A Journey Towards One Dimension,"Nafas Art Magazine, May, 2008,Online: