Suad Al-Attar, (Iraq, born 1942)

Garden of Eden

Garden of Eden
oil on canvas
signed "Suad Al Attar" in Arabic and English (lower right), executed in 1983
51 x 84cm (20 1/16 x 33 1/16in).

Provenance:
Property from a private collection, London
Acquired directly from the Artist

Exhibited:
Leighton House, Suad Al Attar solo exhibition, 1993, London

"Above the palm tree high,
is it light of her face I see,
or is it the moon - how can I know?
You are as fine as the palm tree high,
But, alas, not for me is one so high and fine,
One who salaams and passes me by".

-From an old Baghdadi song

This present work, Garden of Eden, was one of Suad al-Attar's major works on the important chapter of her theme of inspiration from gardens of paradise, birds, flowers, palm trees, orange trees and peacocks. In these paintings, Suad has created an alternative world in the fabric of dreams where souls could escape to. They look back to the tradition of the Baghdadi School of Art and the works of the 13th Century artist, Al-Wasiti, whose works were such an influence on Jewad Selim. Trees are deeply embedded in Suad's subconscious, are a symbol of endurance and magnificence and yet are tragically confined too. They reflect the common human condition.

Suad Al Attar was was born in 1942 in Baghdad. Al-Attar studied art under Jewad Selim and was a participant in the Baghdad Modern Art Group in the early 1960s. In 1965, Al Attar was the first woman artist to ever have a solo exhibition in Baghdad. Al-Attar earned degrees from Baghdad University and California State University. She also studied printmaking in London at the Wimbledon School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. She returned to Iraq and actively exhibited and taught art for a decade. In 1976, she moved to London but her artworks continue to reference Iraq's cultural heritage, from ancient, Islamic and modern periods. Al-Attar's work is featured in major permanent collections in the UK and at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha.

"A woman is like a tree, rooted in the earth and she strives, as a tree which strains its branches towards the indifferent sky, to break free from her servitude." - by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown excerpts from Tree of Life Exhibition in London, 2011