Hassan Massoudy

Born Najaf, Iraq, 1944

Massoudy, inspired by the calligraphy on monuments in his hometown of Najaf, went to Baghdad in 1961 to become an apprentice calligrapher. In 1969 he moved to Paris, where he studied figurative art and painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He continued calligraphy, creating covers for Arabic magazines, and in 1972 he began performing in public with the comedian Guy Jacquet and the musician Fawzi al-Aiedy. In 1975 he returned fully to the art of calligraphy, introducing colour and broader strokes. He has exhibited regularly since 1980 and has published over twenty books. His calligraphies have accompanied a number of texts and poems drawn from world literature – medieval Sufi mystic writer Ibn 'Arabi, philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, poets Charles Baudelaire, Tchouang-Tseu and Virgil – as well as popular wisdom. Massoudy has been a key figure in the introduction of the art of Arabic calligraphy to wider audiences. He lives and works in Paris.