Figure of Sorrow

The first of four very different paintings by Dia Al-Azzawi included in this sale, 'Figure of Sorrow' is an excellent example of the fragmented and abstracted folkloric style of the artist's earlier work whilst still resident in Baghdad. The symbolic language is highly condensed, the figure with a mask-like veiled face is surrounded by abstracted signs, whilst constrained into a narrow space and against an empty grey ground.