Ismail Fatah Al-Turk ("Ismail Fatah") (1934 or 1938–2004) was an Iraqi painter and sculptor born in Basra, Iraq, noted for his abstract art, monumental sculpture, and public works and as part of the Baghdad Modern Art Group, which fostered a sense of national identity. His monument, al-Shaheed Monument is the most iconic public monument in Baghdad.
Life and career Al-Turk was born in Basra in 1934.el-Tablawy, T., "Ismail Fattah al-Turk, 69, Iraqi Abstract Artist," [Obituary], Boston Globe, 23 July 2004, Online: He graduated from the Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts in 1956 with a Bachelor of Painting and in 1958 with a Bachelor of Sculpture. and received a master's degree in fine art from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma in 1962. While in Rome, he also studied ceramics at San Giacomo.Bahrani, Z. and Shabout, N.M., Modernism and Iraq, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery and Columbia University, 2009, p.93
He was very active in Baghdad's arts culture, joining a number of art groups including the Baghdad Modern Art Group (1957) and the al-Zawiya group, both groups were concerned with using art to reassert a sense of national identity by integrating Iraq's artistic heritage with international trends.Sabrah, S.A. and Ali, M.," Iraqi Artwork Red List: A Partial List of the Artworks Missing from the National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq, 2010, pp 7-9; Bloom, J., and Blair, S.S. (eds), Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture, Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 72
Fatah taught sculpture at the Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts and ceramics at the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of Baghdad.Bloom, J. and Blair, S.S. (eds), Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture, Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 72 In 1986, he was the Chairman of the Iraqi Association of Plastic Arts.Baram, A., Culture, History and Ideology in the Formation of Ba'thist Iraq,1968-89, Springer, 1991, pp 70-71
Fatah executed a number of murals and sculptures for public display in Baghdad. Many of these pay homage to notable Iraqi poets, both current and historical; including bronze statues of Maaruf al-Risafi, an Iraqi nationalist poet active in the 1940s; the Abbasid poet Abu Nuwas and the Abbasid painter al-Wasiti. He held six exhibitions for sculpture and five exhibitions for paintings in Rome, Baghdad and Beirut. He was the winner of first prize for Arab artists in Italy.
The most well-known of his sculptures is the turquoise blue split dome of the Al-Shaheed Monument (Martyrs' Monument), in Palestine Street, Baghdad,Ur, London, England, Iraqi Cultural Centre, 1981, p. 33; Baghdad Writers Group, Baghdad and Beyond, [Illustrated edition], Middle East Editorial Associates, 1985, p. 43 and constructed between 1981 and 1983. Shaheed consists of a circular platform floating on top of an underground museum, and over which stands a split dome, 40 meters in height, clad in blue tile. He carried through all the design stages, along with a group of Iraqi architects, known as the Baghdad Architecture Group. The completed monument cost half a million dollars ($US). At its center are a twisted metal flag pole and a spring of water to symbolize the blood of the fallen.Janabi, A., "Leading Iraqi Artist Dies," [Obituary], Aljazeera, 22 July 2004, Online: Its aim was to commemorate the Iraqi dead as a result of the Iran-Iraq war.Al-Khalil, S. and Makiya, K., The Monument: Art, Vulgarity, and Responsibility in Iraq, University of California Press, 1991, p. 23 and p. 25
On the subject of the design for Shaheed, Al-Turk made the following comments:
While living and working in United Arab Emirates, Fatah contracted cancer. He returned to Baghdad where he died 21 July 2004.el-Tablawy, T., "Ismail Fatah al-Turk, 69, Iraqi Abstract Artist," [Obituary], Boston Globe, 23 July 2004, Online:
Work Fatah's most well-known work is al-Shaheed Monument (also known as the Martyrs Monument) built as a tribute to those who fell in battle defending Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war.Baghdad Writers Group, Baghdad and Beyond, [Illustrated edition], Middle East Editorial Associates, 1985, p. 43 The Art in America magazine rated Shaheed as the most beautiful design in the Middle East. However, he also produced paintings in oil such as Ashtar, a mixed media work on paper now in the Jordanian National Gallery of Fine Arts.Ali, W., Modern Islamic Art: Development and Continuity, University of Florida Press, 1997, p. 138
List of notable public works Ancient Arabic Medicine, Baghdad, Bronze and Marble, 8 × 2 metres, 1982 Tigris and Euphrates, Haifa Street, Baghdad, 5 metres, 1982 Two Figures, bronze sculpture, 360 X 180 cm, 1967Bloom, J. and Blair, S.S. (eds), Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture, Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 141 Lawyer's Union Facade, 1967 Abu Nuwas, sculpture, now in Abu Nuwas Street, Baghdad, 1972Ilkkaracan, P., Deconstructing Sexuality in the Middle East: Challenges and Discourses, Ashgate Publishing, 2012, p. 146n Monuments to Iraqi Poets - al-Waisati (National Arts Centre), 1972; al-Farabi (Zawra Park); Abu Nawas, Abou Nawas Street, 1972; Ma’arouf al-Rasfi, and al-Kazimi, al Kazimiya, Baghdad, 1973; (all in bronze)Baram, A., Culture, History and Ideology in the Formation of Ba'thist Iraq,1968-89, Springer, 1991, p. 77 Al Shaheed Monument, (also known as the Matyrs Monument), 1981–1983 in Palestine Street, Baghdad Conference Palace, 1983 The Guardian of the Fertile Crescent, 2001–2010, now in the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar Exell, K., Modernity and the Museum in the Arabian Peninsula, Routledge, 2016, p. 198 Maaruf al-Risafi (after the Iraqi poet of the same name) Al-Risafi roundabout, Baghdad
See also Iraqi art Islamic art List of Iraqi artists
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