Ismael Fattah (Iraqi, b.1934-2004)

This spectacular work by the Iraqi artist Ismael Fattah is the largest and most important of his paintings to have appeared at auction.

A recurrent theme in the paintings of Ismael Fattah was his fascination with the human faces or masks. Often his faces are shown lacking certain features, without a mouth, or without the eyes, but always portrayed with a certain strength. Sometimes these faces are watching or saying something, but usually his faces have lost at least one of their senses.
The placement of each face is emphasized within a square space to which it is allotted. Each one is thus contained in its place and often unable to see or speak.