Hassan Massoudy (حسن المسعود الخطاط), born in 1944, is an Iraqi painter and calligrapher, considered by the French writer Michel Tournier as the "greatest living calligrapher",[1] who currently lives in Paris. His work has influenced a generation of calligraffiti artists.
Early life
Hassan Massoudy was born in 1944[2] in Najaf, central Iraq,[3] and grew up in a traditional society.[3] He moved to Baghdad in 1961, where he was apprenticed to various calligraphers and exhibited a talent for classic Arabic calligraphy.[3]
Career
"Ecstasy" (Al-Wajd) by Hassan Massoudy, 2001
In 1969 he fled Iraq for France, and after arriving in Paris, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts where he studied figurative painting.[2][4] However, he continued to work on calligraphy and paid for his studies by creating calligraphic headlines for Arabic magazines.[4]
In 1972, he created, with the actor Guy Jacquet and later the musician Fawzi Al Aiedy, Arabesque, a public performance combining music, poetry and live calligraphies projected on a screen.[3][4]
He collaborated with couturier Azzedine Alaïa for his Autumn-Winter collection 1986/1987. In 1995, he was involved in the design of the stage set for the ballet "Selim" with the dancer Kader Belarbi from the Opera de Paris and the singer Houria Aichi on a choreography from Kalemenis.[5]
In 2005 he met the dancer and choreographer Carolyn Carlson and the musician Kudsi Erguner. Together with three other dancers and three other musicians, they created the show "Metaphore", a harmony of music, dance and calligraphy.[5]
Massoudy has become an important influence on a generation of calligraffiti artists. The Tunisian street artist, el Seed, who uses calligraphy in his art, points to the work of Iraqi painter, Hassan Massoudy as a major source of inspiration, noting that "The work of Hassan Massoudy was totally out of anything I’ve seen from the way he shapes the letters to the colors he uses. He completely revolutionized the art of calligraphy."[7]
Work
Massoudy often uses quotations from classic and modern writers as the inspiration for his work. One such work is Woman is a Ray of Divine Light painted in 1987, which is based on the words of a 13th-century Sufi poet, Rumi.[8] For Massoudy, reproducing a poem in calligraphy means more than simply presenting it in a particular style, rather it enables him to grasp the inner meaning of the words.[9]
[The calligrapher must] assimilate all aspects of culture that relate to [his art]. Practice awakens the knowledge gradually stored up in the body and releases the expression of a myriad of nuances. [Calligraphic] codes serve to control the internal excitement and prevent his feelings from overflowing... but the calligrapher must pass beyond these set rules. To achieve his aim, he must first conform to these restrictions, and then go beyond them. This is because a true calligraphic composition must contain something indefinable, something elusive and powerful that takes it beyond the rules.
Writer and illustrator:
Calligraphies of the Desert, Saqi Books
Calligraphies of Love, Saqi Books
The Calligrapher's Garden, Saqi Books
Calligraphie arabe vivante, Flammarion
Désir d'envol, une vie en calligraphie, Albin Michel
Sinbad le marin, trois voyages, Alternatives
Si loin de l'Euphrate, Albin Michel
L'ABCdaire de la calligraphie arabe, Flammarion
Calligraphies d'amour, Albin Michel
Le chemin d'un calligraphe, Phébus
Hassan Massoudy calligraphe, Flammarion
Illustrator:
Le vin, le vent, la vie, choix de poèmes, Actes Sud
L'histoire de Gilgamesh, Alternatives
Toi, mon infinitude, Albin Michel
Calligraphie pour l'homme, Alternatives
Écrire la paix, une calligraphie arabe de la paix, Le Pouce Et L'Index
L'harmonie parfaite d'Ibn ´Arabî, Albin Michel
Calligraphie du désert, Alternatives
Les quatrains de Rûmi, Albin Michel
Le voyage des oiseaux, Alternatives
La guerre sainte suprême de l'islam arabe, Fata Morgana
Calligraphie de terre, Alternatives
Le jardin perdu, Alternatives
Antara, le poète du désert, 525-615, Alternatives
Jouer à écrire en arabe - Graphisme, Concentration, Réflexion, Retz
L'exil, extraits de "Consolation à Helvia, ma mère", Alternatives
Un suspens de cristal, Fata Morgana
Récit de l'exil occidental, Fata Morgana
Le passant d'Orphalese extraits du livre "Le prophète", Syros
^Eigner, S., Art of the Middle East: Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World and Iran, Pennsylvania State University, 2011, p.32
^Saldaña, S., "Reviving Arabic Calligraphy: An Encounter with Iraqi-French artist Hassan Massoudy," Mosaic Stories, 10 March 2017, Online:Archived 2020-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
^Welland, M., The Desert: Lands of Lost Borders, Reaktion Books, 2014, [E-book edition], n.p.
^HALI: The International Journal of Oriental Carpets and Textiles, 2009, pp 135-137
^Cantin, L., "Practices of the Letter: Writing a Space for the Real," Umbra Journal, 2010, p. 27
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