Lot 561: m - Fakhir Mohammed , Iraqi B. 1954 Untitled oil on canvas

signed and dated 87 on the reverse oil on canvas

measurements note 100 by 79.5cm.; 39 3/8 by 31 1/4 in.

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

"Fakhir Mohammed belongs to a generation that grew up between two wars which left deep scars on his soul and clear imprints on his early work. The figure in his early paintings is clearly tragic. He adopted a puritanical vision for the redemption of man: death-annihilation being equal to life." (Maysaloun Faraj, (Ed.) Strokes of Genius, Contemporary Iraqi Art, London 2001, p. 65) As observed by the artist Ali al-Najjar, Mohammed's work is more often than not influenced by the tragedy of war. The very essence of the art produced in Iraq during the sanction-choked 1980s and 1990s is a search for inspiration through imagination. The artists also derived much from the Iraq Archaeological Museum, which housed the artistic vestiges of ancient civilisations. It is from both these sources that the strange creatures populating Fakhir Mohammed's paintings are drawn. The central couple here, whilst still figures of tragedy, is a reference to love denied. The 'last farewell' as it is inscribed (and then crossed out) on the reverse, depicts his final embrace with the girl he was forbidden to marry. Surrounded on all sides by violent and aggressive creatures, executed in sharp bold lines and outlandish colours, his feelings of isolation and despair are easily read.