Shakir Hassan Al Said (Arabic: شاكر حسن آل سعيد) (1925–2004), an Iraqi painter, sculptor and writer, is considered one of Iraq's most innovative[1] and influential[2] artists.

[6] He continued his studies at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris until 1959,[7] where he was taught by Raymond Legueult.

[2] After his return to Baghdad in 1959, Al Said studied the work of Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti,[1] sufism[2] and Mansur Al-Hallaj.

[11] This specific approach was called Istilham al-turath (Seeking inspiration from tradition), considered as "the basic point of departure, to achieve through modern styles, a cultural vision".

They believed that the Mongol invasion of 1258 represented a "break in the chain of pictorial Iraqi art"[13] and wanted to recover lost traditions.

Al Said explained:[19] Despite only mounting only one exhibition,"The One-Dimension" group (in its creation and sustenance) was Shakir Hassan Al-Said's lasting contribution to contemporary art.

"From a philosophical point of view, the One-Dimension is eternity, or an extension of the past to the time before the existence of pictorial surface; to the non-surface.

[20] Arabic calligraphy was charged with intellectual and esoteric Sufi meaning,[21] in that it was an explicit reference to a Medieval theology where letters were seen as primordial signifiers and manipulators of the cosmos.

[23] Hurufiyah refers to the attempt by artists to combine traditional art forms, notably calligraphy as a graphic element within a contemporary artwork.

[24] Hurufiyah artists rejected Western art concepts, and instead searched for a new visual languages that reflected their own culture and heritage.

"[2] Al Said's early work reveals the influence of European avant-garde art movements - particularly expressionism and cubism.

His artistic philosophy was rooted within both Sufism (a branch of Islam) and Western Modern ideals regarding structuralism, semiotics, deconstructionist, phenomenology, and existentialist thoughts.

Al Said published several books on modern art in Iraq and numerous articles in Arabic journals and newspapers.