HASSAN MASSOUDY

Master artist-calligrapher, Hassan Massoudy, is an artist for whom the word itself remains the most sublime creative force. His work features the texts of a diverse range of writers, from poet, Charles Baudelaire and philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau to Virgil and Ibn ’Arabi. A sense of balance prevails in his art, whether between erudite discipline and artistic experimentation, or as played out through his understanding of the vigorous use of line, strength of gesture, abandon and grace.

Born to a traditional Iraqi family, Massoudy moved to Baghdad in 1961, where he learnt the various classical styles of calligraphy, and studied the fine arts. He departed for Paris in 1969, where he enrolled at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts. Massoudy was not only influenced by the great Arabic masters but also by the artists Leger, Matisse, Soulages and Picasso. Peace and tolerance, central themes of his work, led him to collaborate with Amnesty International and UNICEF. His work was exhibited in the British Museum’s 2006 exhibition, Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East and in 2007, his first solo exhibition at the Gallery, Modern Arabic Calligraphy took place. In 2012, Gestures of Light – The Art of Hassan Massoudy, was displayed at the Ghaf Art Gallery for ADMAF, Abu Dhabi, UAE. His work is in many private and major international collections, including the British Museum, London, UK; the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan; the Musee du Quai Branly, Paris; the Biblioteque Nationale, Paris, France; the National Museum of Ethnography, Osaka, Japan; the Sharjah Museum, UAE; and the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, USA.

"The gestures of the calligrapher become an open space, welcoming the words of the poet and the imagination of the onlooker".
Hassan Massoudy

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View below for career highlights and works for sale by the artist.