A view of the exhibition that the Bard Museum is dedicating to the Baghdad Modern Art Group. (Credit: Hessel Museum, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College)
It is a first in the United States and a revelation for the history of global modern art. The Hessel Museum of Art, on the Bard College campus in New York, is hosting “All manner of experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group” until Oct. 19, 2025, an ambitious retrospective that resurrects a forgotten chapter in modern Arab art. Through more than 80 works and a vast body of archives, the exhibition traces the trajectory, ambition, fractures and legacy of a visionary collective that, from 1951 to the 1970s, sought to combine artistic modernity with Iraqi identity.“The artists of the Baghdad Modern Art Group saw themselves as citizens of the world, contributing to an inclusive modern history by forging unique artistic identities,” explained Nada Shabout, curator of the exhibition, professor at the University of North Texas and a...
It is a first in the United States and a revelation for the history of global modern art. The Hessel Museum of Art, on the Bard College campus in New York, is hosting “All manner of experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group” until Oct. 19, 2025, an ambitious retrospective that resurrects a forgotten chapter in modern Arab art. Through more than 80 works and a vast body of archives, the exhibition traces the trajectory, ambition, fractures and legacy of a visionary collective that, from 1951 to the 1970s, sought to combine artistic modernity with Iraqi identity.“The artists of the Baghdad Modern Art Group saw themselves as citizens of the world, contributing to an inclusive modern history by forging unique artistic identities,” explained Nada Shabout, curator of the exhibition, professor at the University of North...
