UNTITLED
inscribed on the reverse
mixed media on canvas
70 x 70cm; 27 1/2 x 27 1/2in
77 x 77cm; 30 1/3 x 30 1/3in (framed)

Property of a Private Collector, London

Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner in 2006

Muhammad Muhraddin, a major figure in Iraqi art of the 1960s and 1970s, sought new creative directions beyond previous artistic conventions. Born in Basra, he pursued painting early on, studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad, and earned a Master’s degree in Warsaw, Poland. Influenced by Polish abstract and street art, he returned to Iraq in the mid-1960s to teach and produce work shaped by the political unrest in the country and the rise of Arab Nationalism.

Muhraddin co-founded the New Vision group in 1969, merging art with activism through graphics and posters. His exhibitions from the 1970s onward often addressed protest themes such as Palestine, black liberation, poverty, and war, employing abstract indecipherable symbols and harsh graphics, as evidenced in the present work. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he maintained a focus on sociopolitical topics amid Iraq’s turmoil, producing notable works and participating in significant exhibitions such as Strange is this World and Globalisation Trap.

After relocating to Jordan in 2006 due to instability in Iraq, Muhraddin continued creating politically charged art until his death in 2015. His final exhibition, Dirty War, underscored his enduring legacy of engaging with themes of war and colonialism.