Biography
Hafidh al-Droubi is primarily remembered for his work as an educator and developer of art pedagogy in Iraq during the mid-twentieth century. Yet he was also an active painter with a talent for capturing the beauty of everyday life through a sophisticated manipulation of form and colour. Al-Droubi is considered one of the pioneers of Iraqi modern art, as he made several early contributions to its development.
Al-Droubi began his formal education in the arts at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome , becoming one of the first Iraqi artists to study abroad. He later earned a degree from Goldsmiths College in London in 1950. After his studies in Rome, he returned to Iraq and actively participated in the burgeoning art scene. During the formative years between studying in Rome and London, Al-Droubi took several steps to professionalise art practice in Iraq. In 1942, he established Iraq's first free artist studio, allowing aspiring artists to learn and practice art-making. In the subsequent decade, Al-Droubi opened similar artist studios at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Baghdad University, where he could supervise and encourage emerging talent. Many other studios like these opened around Baghdad, each headed by established artists. This system proved highly effective as many notable Iraqi artists received their early training from these ateliers.
Al-Droubi was also a founding member of the Society of the Friends of Art, whose membership included Jewad Selim (1919–1961), Faiq Hassan (1914–1992), and Abdul Qadir al-Rassam (1882–1952). Established in 1941, this was the first official artist collective in Iraq. The group aimed to give artists an intellectual space to engage with each other's art practices and cultivate an appreciation of art amongst the general public. One way the Society did this was by holding annual exhibitions. This activity showcased member artwork to the community and allowed for collective artistic critique. Al-Droubi actively exhibited with this group.
In 1953, al-Droubi founded the Iraqi Impressionists Group as an extension of his work as an art educator. The group largely followed al-Droubi's pedagogical agendas and consisted of his students and colleagues, including Dia Azzawi (1939–). Despite the name, the Impressionists Group approached art-making from various technical and stylistic angles. Therefore, developing a cohesive style was not the aim of the group's members but rather the cultivation of a collective attitude towards art instruction. This attitude fostered a spirit of experimentation amongst the group as they investigated European avant-garde movements and their interpretations of the Iraqi landscape.
Al-Droubi was particularly dedicated to this eclecticism within his art practice. The artist maintained fidelity to his subject matter throughout his career, rarely straying from the streets, marketplaces, and interiors of Iraq's cities and villages. However, he moved freely between realist, impressionist, and cubist styles, sometimes negotiating among more than one to produce a unique rendering of colour and form. Al-Droubi mastered using light and shadow in his works to create a dynamic interaction of spatial elements.
Despite abstracted elements, Al-Droubi's canvases often have a journalistic quality. They capture the variety of Iraqi society and quintessential moments of Iraqi life: a day at the souq, a drink at the café, or an afternoon chore. Centred primarily on life in Baghdad, his works convince viewers of their representative authenticity through their banality. Yet, they excite the viewer through their beauty, detail, and inventiveness. To al-Droubi and many of his contemporaries, the ordinary was worthy of representation because it pointed towards a collective national self-image. In other words, his subjects held significance in their perceived Iraqiness.
Al-Droubi is most commonly known for his cubist works. However, the extent to which he adhered to the Cubist paradigm as it was practised in Europe is open to debate. With that said, his work does exhibit an aesthetic reference arising from the cubist tendency to fragment space and shift perspective. However, his variant use of this fragmentation and insistence on maintaining naturalistic forms are unique to his practice. It would not be unreasonable to suggest that al-Droubi wished to depict light, shadow, and colour as he perceived them within the Iraqi environment. Cubism, as an aesthetic, was a convenient starting point. The Islamic tradition of miniature painting, with its ability to express multiple views in a single image, also acted as an aesthetic foundation for al-Droubi and his colleagues.
Throughout his career, al-Droubi exhibited in various countries and venues. He showed extensively with all the groups he held membership, including the Society of the Friends of Art and the Impressionists. Furthermore, Al-Droubi was an exhibiting artist at the 1952 Ibn Sina Exhibition in Baghdad. He showed his work in Europe in various Iraqi collective exhibitions and participated in the 1965 Beirut Exhibition of Contemporary Iraqi Art, which travelled to Rome, Vienna, and Madrid. Along with his extensive exhibition history, al-Droubi received accolades attesting to his key role in establishing Iraqi modern art. He received many honorary awards from the Society of Iraqi Plastic Arts and was one of four artists to be honoured at the Al-Wasiti Fine Arts Festival in 1972.
Hafidh al-Droubi was a crucial figure in developing modernism in Iraq, especially in art education. During a career that included service in important positions like the Dean of the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad and the Chair of the Iraqi Plastic Art Society, he demonstrated a deep commitment to providing knowledge and resources for succeeding generations. Indeed, he was instrumental in instilling the value of art education among his students and colleagues.
Al-Droubi's work can be appreciated today in many settings worldwide, including museums, government buildings, and universities; foremost among these sites is Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar and the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Art in Amman, Jordan. His works were also held at Baghdad's Iraqi National Museum of Modern Art, formerly the Saddam Center for the Arts. Many of these were looted from the museum's collection and have yet to be recovered.
