Written by Mysa Kafil-Hussain

Born in 1941, Salim al-Dabbagh is an abstract painter and printmaker who was born and raised in Mosul, Iraq. As a young man, al-Dabbagh had developed a love for the traditions, cultures and crafts of the city, however it was by complete chance, following no distinct childhood passion for art, that he then became completely enamored by photographs he saw of Vincent Van Gogh’s work, sparking a love for painting which would continue for the rest of his life.^[1] Al-Dabbagh’s growing interest soon became his educational pursuit, graduating from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad in 1961, and then taking another course at the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad, graduating in 1965.^[2] He was taught by a number of pioneering artists at the Institute, including Faik Hassan, Ismail al-Cheikhli and Jewad Selim, who had a great impact on his understanding of art. At the Academy, he was trained in a more academic manner, but was also in the presence of renowned European modernist artists, highly skilled in engraving, printmaking and mural paintings.^[3] As one of the first Iraqi artists to be trained in the arts of engraving and printmaking, this would undoubtedly have an influence on a young al-Dabbagh, further developing his interest in abstraction and experimental art.

The mid-late 1960s was an eventful period in al-Dabbagh’s life and specifically his career, with his artwork gaining increasing attention. He and many artists of the time were keen to push their creative boundaries, resulting in al-Dabbagh becoming a founding member of a new art collective, The Innovationists (al-Mujadideen), in 1965.^[4]  He founded the group with other artists including Ali Talib, Faik Hassan, Saleh al-Jumaie and many others, with their collective intention to move on from the existing art movements in Iraq, connect with innovative global artists, and also to rebel against traditional styles, techniques and mediums, and especially encouraged younger artists to push the boundaries of their artistic practice.^[5] Following a number of exhibitions, including an exhibition of political posters entitled ‘Resistance’ after the 1967 Six Day War,^[6] al-Dabbagh and two other artists, Rafa al-Nasiri and Hashim Samarchi, were nominated by the Iraqi Artists Association for a scholarship with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The three artists left Iraq for Lisbon, Portugal, where they spent two years studying graphic art, exhibiting their work for local audiences during their stay. For al-Dabbagh, this experience propelled his creative mind even further into the world of the endless possibilities of abstract art, leaving a lasting impression on the artist, his styles and techniques.

“Abstract work is the only style that fulfils my ambition in attaining the qualities of imperceptible beauty”

Salim al-Dabbagh^[7]

Upon his return to Baghdad, alongside Samarchi and al-Nasiri, al-Dabbagh began exhibiting his new work to Iraqi audiences, pushing graphic art into the mainstream of local artistic production. Following this, he and other Iraqi artists began participating in a number of international graphics biennales and exhibitions. In 1971, al-Dabbagh was offered a position at the Institute of Fine Arts, teaching drawing, planning and graphic art, and also serving as Head of the Graphic Design Department until his retirement in 2000. It was during his years as a teacher that he painted Jidār wa-Fadā’ in 1992, meaning ‘Wall and Space’. Using mixed media on canvas, part of his composition becomes an earthy, textured surface – what we can assume to be the ‘wall’ – leaping out of the canvas as though it were three-dimensional. It sits in the surrounding space, only connected by sharp lines and a blast of colour at the bottom of the painting. Al-Dabbagh often painted artworks with similarly rigid, conflicting sections, which artist and art critic Nizar Selim sees as antagonistic elements intended to have different dimensions and directions.^[8]

There are four further artworks by the artist in the Dalloul Collection, including Khayma ba’d al-Qaṣaf (2001), meaning ‘The Tent after the Bombing’, one untitled work from 2012 and two from 2015. These compositions are all fantastic examples of al-Dabbagh’s dark, abstract style, creating mysterious, hazy atmospheres fragmented with contrasting black and white spaces. Al-Dabbagh himself asserts that the black and white prominence in his oeuvre is cultivated in his unconscious imagination, stating that “even in my dreams I only see in black and white,”^[9] and that the empty spaces in his compositions are rooted in a feeling of emptiness he has at that point in time: “the more space grows in my paintings, the emptier I feel”.^[10] Within these enigmatic and lonely canvases, al-Dabbagh often interrupts the vast spaces with shapes, usually square or rectangular, inspired by Bedouin tents he saw as a child, the structures and textures of which fascinated him throughout his life. The shapes of the tents can often be deciphered in much of his work, including his paintings in the Dalloul Collection, and is most interestingly evident in his untitled work from 2012, a mixed media composition on board in which the stark, intersecting lines create a sense of spontaneous structure and defence, whilst the suggestion of the rough texture of the fabric walls and roof, usually woven with goat hair in reality, can almost be felt without even to touching the artwork.

Al-Dabbagh left Iraq for Damascus after the occupation of Iraq in 2003 during a time of instability and fear, however he returned home after a number of years.^[11] He continues to live and work in Iraq to this day.

^[1] Mady Hassan Neama (n.d.), "إستمرارية الإختيار عند الفنان سالم الدباغ", n.pag

^[2] Artist Website (n.d.), “About – سالم الدباغ”, n.pag

^[3] Neama (n.d.), n.pag

^[4] Ibrahimi Collection (n.d.), “Salim Al-Dabbagh”, n.pag

^[5] Neama (n.d.), n.pag

^[6] Samia Touati (n.d.), “Salim al-Dabbagh”, n.pag

^[7] May Muzaffar (n.d.), “Salim al-Dabbagh: Eloquence of Silence”, n.pag

^[8] Nizar Selim (1977), “Iraq Contemporary Art: Volume 1 – Painting, p.174

^[9] Neama (n.d.), n.pag

^[10] Christies (2018), “‘Salim al-Dabbagh: Abstract Composition’ – Middle Eastern, Modern and Contemporary Art, London, 24 October 2018”, n.pag

^[11] Muzaffar (n.d.), n.pag

Sources

May Muzaffar (n.d.), “Salim al-Dabbagh: Eloquence of Silence”, In Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World, Encylopedia.Mathaf.org.qa. Accessed July 2020. www.encyclopedia.mathaf.org.qa

Neama, Mady Hassan (n.d.). "إستمرارية الإختيار عند الفنان سالم الدباغ", In ElSada.net. Accessed July 2020. elsada.net

Touati, Samia (n.d.). “Salim al-Dabbagh”, In Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World, Encylopedia.Mathaf.org.qa. Accessed July 2020. www.encyclopedia.mathaf.org.qa

Artist Website (n.d.). “About – سالم الدباغ”, In SalimAlDabbagh.com. Accessed June 2020. www.salimaldabbagh.com

Ibrahimi Collection (n.d.). “Salim Al-Dabbagh”, In IbrahimiCollection.com. Accessed July 2020. ibrahimicollection.com

Christies (2018), “‘Salim al-Dabbagh: Abstract Composition’ – Middle Eastern, Modern and Contemporary Art, London, 24 October 2018”, In Christies.com. Accessed July 2020. www.christies.com