Hassan Massoudy

Hassan Massoudy (حسن المسعود الخطاط), born in 1944, is an Iraqi painter and calligrapher, considered by the French writer Michel Tournier as the "greatest living calligrapher", who currently lives in Paris.

His work has influenced a generation of calligraffiti artists.

Hassan Massoudy was born in 1944 in Najaf, central Iraq, and grew up in a traditional society.

He moved to Baghdad in 1961, where he was apprenticed to various calligraphers and exhibited a talent for classic Arabic calligraphy.

In 1969 he fled Iraq for France, and after arriving in Paris, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts where he studied figurative painting.

However, he continued to work on calligraphy and paid for his studies by creating calligraphic headlines for Arabic magazines.

In 1972, he created, with the actor Guy Jacquet and later the musician Fawzi Al Aiedy, Arabesque, a public performance combining music, poetry and live calligraphies projected on a screen.

He collaborated with couturier Azzedine Alaïa for his Autumn-Winter collection 1986/1987.

One such work is Woman is a Ray of Divine Light painted in 1987, which is based on the words of a 13th-century Sufi poet, Rumi.

For Massoudy, reproducing a poem in calligraphy means more than simply presenting it in a particular style, rather it enables him to grasp the inner meaning of the words.

Massoudy explains:

Writer and illustrator:

Illustrator:

Translation:

In 1995, he was involved in the design of the stage set for the ballet "Selim" with the dancer Kader Belarbi from the Opera de Paris and the singer Houria Aichi on a choreography from Kalemenis.

In 2005 he met the dancer and choreographer Carolyn Carlson and the musician Kudsi Erguner.

Together with three other dancers and three other musicians, they created the show "Metaphore", a harmony of music, dance and calligraphy.

Massoudy has continued to live in France.

Massoudy has become an important influence on a generation of calligraffiti artists.

The Tunisian street artist, EL Seed, who uses calligraphy in his art, points to the work of Iraqi painter, Hassan Massoudy as a major source of inspiration, noting that "The work of Hassan Massoudy was totally out of anything I’ve seen from the way he shapes the letters to the colors he uses. He completely revolutionized the art of calligraphy."

Massoudy often uses quotations from classic and modern writers as the inspiration for his work.