Jewad Selim

The first Catalogue raisonné of the artist's paintings and sculptures. Jewad Selim is remembered as one of the defining figures of twentieth century Middle Eastern visual culture and the key protagonist of Iraqi Modernism. In the 1950's, Selim forged a distinctive movement which sought to express modern Iraqi identity by combining traditional, local forms of artistic expression with the visual language of the European avant-garde. Selim honed his artistic instincts across Europe studying in Rome, Paris and England before returning to his native Iraq. He moved equally deftly between media, excelling in sculpture and painting before embarking on his crowning achievement, the monumental public commission, Baghdad's "Freedom Monument", during which his life was tragically cut short in 1961. This volume brings together, for the first time, a comprehensive Catalogue raisonné of the artist's paintings and sculptures, beginning with his early teenage artistic exercises and culminating in his iconic mature work.