Naziha Salim, iconic Iraqi artist, educator & author on Google Doodle

Google doodle on April 23, 2022, to celebrate Iraqi artist, educator and author, Naziha Salim. She was a painter, professor and one of the most influential artists in Iraq’s contemporary art scene. Her work often depicts rural Iraqi women and peasant life through bold brush strokes and vivid colors. On this day in 2020, Naziha Salim was spotlighted by the Barjeel Art Foundation in their collection of female artists.

Naziha Salim was born in 1927 in Istanbul to Iraqi parents, who were originally from Mosul. At the time of her birth, her father was an officer in the Ottoman army, stationed in Turkey. The family returned to Baghdad in the 1920s, when Naziha was a small child. She was born into a family of Iraqi artists living in Turkey. Her father, Hajji Mohammed Salim (1883-1941) was a painter, while her mother was also an artist and a skilled embroiderer.

Salim enrolled at the Baghdad Fine Arts Institute where she studied painting and graduated with distinction. Because of her hard work and passion for art, she was one of the first women awarded a scholarship to continue her education in Paris at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. While in Paris, Salim specialized in fresco and mural painting. After graduation, she spent several more years abroad, immersing herself in art and culture.

Salim eventually returned to Baghdad to work at the Fine Arts Institute where she would teach until retirement. She was active in Iraq’s arts community and one of the founding members of Al-Ruwwad, a community of artists that study abroad and incorporate European art techniques into the Iraqi aesthetic. Later in her career, Salim authored Iraq: Contemporary Art, an important resource for the early development of Iraq’s modern art movement.

Naziha Salim’s artwork hangs at the Sharjah Art Museum and the Modern Art Iraqi Archive. There you can see the magic she created from dripping brushes and brimmed canvases. Today’s Doodle artwork is an ode to Salim's painting style and a celebration of her long-standing contributions to the art world!

Source: Google doodles, Wikipedia

Also Read: Google doodle honors Vietnam’s ‘Son Doong cave,’ the world's largest cave!