MARKET SCENE, RABAT, MOROCCO
signed in Arabic Khaled Aljadir lower left
oil on board
33 x 36.5cm; 13 x 14 1/4in
(unframed)

Painted in 1987

Property from a Private Collection, London

Provenance
Acquired from the artist by the present owner

Khaled Al-Jadir is seen as a precursor to modern abstract art in Iraq. He was part of the 'Pioneers Group,' founded by Faik Hassan in 1941, and considered to be one of Iraq's most important artistic cultural voices.

Al-Jadir successfully developed a unique realistic-expressionist style resulting from his persistent, experimental work that he undertook in Iraq before his departure to Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1949. The artist was undoubtedly influenced by European arts, yet he was able to create his own Iraqi style, which remained constant and unchanged until his very last sketch.

In his obituary of Al-Jadir, Shaker Hassan Al Sa’eed, the Iraqi painter and one of top art critics in the Arab world said: 'He was truly, incontestably the precursor of contemporary expressionist art in Iraq'.