Madiha Tahseen Omar
She works to revive Arab art, and draws the inspiration for her paintings from Arabic calligraphy!
Edvick J. Shayboub
Who is she? To make the acquaintance of Madiha Tahseen Omar at a cocktail party is one thing; to hear her speak of her art is another..
In the first case she is — the wife of Mr. Yaseen Omar, chargé d'affaires at the Iraqi Embassy — like any society lady of high refinement; but in the second, what self-confidence beams from her eyes, and what enthusiasm pours out with her words! It is perhaps the enthusiasm of one who knows she has a destiny in her world that deserves special notice!
A childhood dream: In the atmosphere of her small studio, Madiha tells you of the hopes that haunted her head as a child and as a young girl, and that were fulfilled at her hands as a young woman. While the artists of the age swing between the schools of modern art — and how many they are — she stands alone in a school she drew out of her own self, when it appeared to her that there were possibilities for reviving Arab art and bringing it out of the frame of the traditional, geometric "arabesque" into the open field of modern art.
Studies and travels: That singular idea was born of nine years and more of study, drawing on the currents of art old and new, in the institutes of Washington, Paris, and London..
These studies interacted with what had drawn the young girl's attention
and interest among the masterpieces of Arab art on the doors and domes of mosques and on the ceilings and walls of houses, in Baghdad, Damascus, and Istanbul. How often her eyes gazed for hours on end, exploring the meanings of those winding, interlacing designs, wishing she could loosen their bonds, free them from their rigidity and the flatness of their lines, and bring them nearer the spirit of the age, while keeping their captivating Eastern character!
It is easy for the budding artist to feel his way toward the secrets of
Rhythm in the letter lam
This painting now hangs in the Lebanese House in Washington
art along a road traced on the pattern of this school or that; but the road of creation is beset with dangers and hazards, and an original artist, without doubt, is the one who chooses for her feet the rugged path, and for her wings the unknown reaches of the horizon — as Madiha Omar has done!
Nude