Lot 56: Issam El-Said (Iraq, 1938-1988) We made every living thing of water,

We made every living thing of water, oil and mixed media on canvas, signed, dated 1962 in Arabic and inscribed number 59 on reverse, framed, 75.5 x 63cm (29 3/4 x 24 13/16in).

Provenance:
Private UK collection: acquired directly from the artist in London in the early 1960s and thence by descent.

Exhibited
Issam El-Said, The Qua'ranic Passages, Woodstock Gallery, London, 1962, no. 59.

This work is that listed as number 59 in the exhibition catalogue for artist's first one man exhibition held at the Woodstock Gallery, London in 1962. The artist apparently gifted the painting to the owners mother after she had expressed an interest in the piece during the Woodstock Gallery exhibition.

A forward to the exhibition was written by Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid who first met the artist at her one man show at the Institute of Contemporary Art in July 1953 and was impressed by the young El-Said's "natural clarity and discipline of mind, together with boldness of line and sense of colour". In the following years she was described as having been unfailingly generous with her help, encouragement and advice to him.

The work is inscribed with an extract from the Quran from sura al-Anbiya (The Prophets) Ayat Number 30: Wa khalaqna min al-Ma'I kulla shai'in hai, (We made every living thing of water.)

For more information on the artist's first solo show see, Issam El-Said: Artist and Scholar, London, 1989, pp. 22-23.