Iraqi painter Husam Abdulmuhsin dies at 75, artists’ union says

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Iraqi Artists Union announced the death of painter Husam Abdulmuhsin at the age of 75. According to the union, Abdulmuhsin was born in 1951 in Maysan and graduated from the Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts, later earning undergraduate and master’s degrees from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Baghdad. Abdulmuhsin began exhibiting his work in domestic and international shows in 1973 and contributed works that helped establish Iraqi plastic arts in cultural spaces, the union said. He worked as an illustrator for several newspapers and magazines, and produced drawings and stories for children in “Majallatu” and “Mizmar,” two publications affiliated with the Children’s Culture Palace. In 2004, he was awarded the title of professor of art at the Faculty of Fine Arts and published numerous research papers in the field of plastic arts. His children’s literature includes “Mizmar Hikayeleri Seçkisi,” “Kanatlı Boğa,” “Arap Hikayeleri,” “Tuhaf Şeyler,” “Çocuk ve Tank” and “Vadi Şems,” works the union said left a mark on Iraq’s childhood cultural memory. The Artists Union said Abdulmuhsin leaves a lasting legacy as a painter, researcher, academic and writer in Iraqi plastic arts.