ArtDayME: Kadhim Hayder is among the most revered members of Iraq’s modernist movement and was a member of a number of artists groups. Merging his interests in literature, symbolism and daily life, Hayder articulated multiple levels of readings in his painting practice.

He studied painting at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad and later attended the Royal College of Art in London to study theatre design and printmaking from 1961 to 1962. After his return to Iraq and infused with a sense of pan-Arab identity, he introduced a new paradigm to his representational style.

He focused on the eighth century Battle of Karbala, which resulted in the death of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussein ibn Ali, creating a series of paintings known as Melhamet al-Shahid, or The Martyr’s Epic. An analysis of Hayder’s approach suggests that he re-contextualised the practice of taziya (mourning) through poetry and theatrical re-enactments of the battle.

Hayder’s work was exhibited frequently in the 1970s, including at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and Baghdad's First Arab Biennial in 1974.

Kadhim Haidar's work has been offered at auction multiple times and some of his works have been sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Al Qamar (1966), an exceptional oil painting by Kadhim Hayder (1932-1985), was the top lot at Bonhams' sale of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art Sale in London on May 24, 2023. It achieved an impressive £635,400 - a new world record at auction for the artist - against a pre-sale estimate of £180,000 - £250,000. The sale also achieved another new world record at auction for Faeq Hassan (Iraq, 1914-1992), with the sale of his work Baghdadiyat (circa 1950s), which sold for £190,000.