Mohammed Hajji Selim

Mohammed Hajji Selim (1883-1941) was among the first generation of modern Iraqi artists to receive a European arts education.

He is mainly remembered as the patriarch of an artistic dynasty and as the father of the distinguished sculptor, Jawad Saleem.

Like many of his contemporaries, Selim was educated at the Military Academy in Istanbul where drawing and painting were a standard part of the curriculum.

[1] This exposure to Western art techniques, encouraged Selim to take up painting as an amateur artist.

Selim was part of a small group of Iraqi artists comprising; Asim Hafidh (1886-1978) and Mohammed Saleh Zaki (1888-1974), which formed the first modern Iraqi artists to take up easel painting and generally work in the European style.