Naziha Salim, one of Iraq`s best-known artists, honoured by Google with a special doodle

New Delhi: Google on Saturday (April 23, 2022) celebrated Naziha Salim, one of Iraq's best-known artists, with a special doodle. On this day in 2020, Naziha Salim was spotlighted by the Barjeel Art Foundation in their collection of female artists.

"Today’s Doodle artwork is an ode to Salim's painting style and a celebration of her long-standing contributions to the art world," Google said. 

Born into a family of Iraqi artists in Turkey in 1927, Naziha Salim was a painter, professor and one of the most influential artists in Iraq’s contemporary art scene. 

Her father was a painter and her mother was a skilled embroidery artist. All three of her brothers worked in the arts, including Jawad, who’s widely known as one of Iraq’s most influential sculptors. 

She was enrolled at the Baghdad Fine Arts Institute where she studied painting and graduated with distinction.

Naziha Salim, notably, was one of the first women awarded a scholarship to continue her education in Paris at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. 

After completing her graduation and spending several years abroad, Salim eventually returned to Baghdad to work at the Fine Arts Institute. She taught there until retirement. 

Naziha Salim’s work depicts rural Iraqi women and peasant life through bold brush strokes and vivid colours. Her artwork hangs at the Sharjah Art Museum and the Modern Art Iraqi Archive and one can witness the magic she created from dripping brushes and brimmed canvases.