Khaled al Rahal

Khaled al-Rahal was an Iraqi painter and sculptor and one of the leaders of the modern art movement in Iraq. He was born in 1926 in Baghdad, into a poor family. He was fascinated by the ancient sculptures and reliefs in the Iraqi Museum, and developed a style that blended Mesopotamian art traditions with modern abstract forms. He studied art at the Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts under Jawad Saleem, and later at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. He exhibited his works in various countries, and also taught at the American University of Beirut. He returned to Baghdad in 1980, and was commissioned to create several public monuments, such as the Swords of Qādisīyah, a giant arch made of two crossed swords, and the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, a twisted metal sculpture inspired by the Sumerian Queen Shubad. He also used the debris of war to create sculptures that he called eco-sculpture. He died in 1987 in Baghdad, from a heart attack. He is remembered as one of the pillars of modern Iraqi art, and a pioneer of public art in the Arab world.¹