Baghdad Landscape

Details

Hussein Madi (Lebanese, b. 1938)
Baghdad Landscape
signed and dated ‘MADi 1998’ (lower left); signed and dated ‘MADi 1998’ (on the reverse)
acrylic on canvas
59 1/4 x 77 3/4in. (150.5 x 197.5cm.)
Painted in 1998

Provenance

Private Collection, Paris.
Anon. sale, Christie’s Dubai, 31 October 2007, lot 90.

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Lot Essay

Hussein Madi's work is characterized by his fusion of European and Islamic geometrical influences. Drawing strong and clear inspiration from Western modern artists such as Matisse and Picasso, Madi combines this with the principles of divine harmony that informs the abstract designs of Islamic art. Whether in two or three dimensions, the seeming spontaneity of Madi's lines belies the exacting calculations which underlie them. His oeuvre involves a combination of meticulousness and sensuality, and his belief in God's universal order is reinforced in his work in which everything is composed of the same fundamental elements of repetition. He uses calligraphic elements and simple geometric shapes to create a connection between the real and the symbolic – the former represented by a partial image and the latter connected with the inner life of man. Between these two interconnected plains, Madi has created a pictorial language which translates to both conceptual and aesthetical meaning.

In Baghdad Landscape Madi took something that is very natural and organic, creating a composition that is dominated by lines that are a result of diligent calculations and bodily spontaneity. Representing the most celebrated tree in the visual vocabulary of Middle Eastern landscapes, Madi uses palm trees and transforms this into a structural base, as he remains a sculptor at heart.

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