| R |
|
 | Abdul Qadir al-Rassam was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1882. Al-Rassam studied art and military science in Istanbul during the last years of the Ottoman Empire. Working with oil paints in a realist style, al-Rassam in known for his landscapes, portraits, and scenes of everyday life. Upon becoming established in Iraq, al-Rassam held art classes out of his studio and encouraged young artists to further their educations by studying abroad. He was an honorary member of the Society of the Friends of Art. A collection of his work is held at the Pioneers Museum in Baghdad and the Iraqi Museum of Modern Art. His art can also be appreciated at museums like Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art.
Read more |
|
 | Mohammed Ben Ali Rbati was born in 1861 in Rabat, Morocco, and died in 1939 in Tangier, Morocco. If not the very first, Rbati is certainly one of the earliest modern Moroccan painters. He is often referred to as an easel painter, though he eschewed canvas for watercolors on paper. In 1903, Rbati became the cook for Sir John Lavery, an Irish portrait painter who discovered Rbati's talent as a watercolor painter. Rbati had his first exhibition at the Goupil Gallery in London in 1916. Rbati's figurative watercolors on paper focus on Tangier, its Kasbah, and its inhabitants. The paintings depict an extensive cross-section of the local population. Figures are often simplified and demarcated with clear strokes. In many examples of Rbati's work, the plane of the picture is entirely flat, with no reference to dimensionality.
Read more |
|
 | Born on 24 June 1896 in Algiers, Algeria, Mohammed Racim is considered one of the first Algerian painters. From a family of artisans, Racim first discovered Islamic miniatures while working as a draftsman in the colonial-era Service of Indigenous Arts. His miniatures and illuminations blend Persian and Mughal miniature painting techniques with Western perspective to depict historical events, religious festivals, and everyday life in pre-colonial Algeria. He exhibited with the Society of Algerian and Orientalist Painters in 1923, and in 1933 was the first Algerian to win the Grand Prix Artistique de l’Algérie. Racim established a school of miniaturists at the Academy of Fine Arts in Algeria and, after independence was an advisor to the Algerian Minister of Culture. His work was widely exhibited in Algeria and Europe during his lifetime and posthumous exhibitions include a 1992 retrospective at the Institut du Monde Arabe. Racim died on 30 March 1975 in Algiers, Algeria.
Read more |
