Lisa Fattah

Lisa Fattah (Oslo, 1941 – Baghdad, 1992) was a painter of German parentage, born in Oslo, who spent most of her life in Iraq. Her work stands out because its expressionist style was uncommon in Iraq at the time, and its rebellious, forceful character responded to living conditions there.

She studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, graduating in 1963, and then at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. In Rome she met the Iraqi artist Ismail Fattah, who later became her husband, and after finishing her studies she moved with him to Baghdad. Her paintings express anger at the violence suffered by the Iraqi people and are often strongly feminist in nature. Among her works are "Aggression", now in the collection of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, and several self-portraits and portraits, such as "Self Portrait" (1984) and "Portrait of Artist's Daughter" (1978).

Her name became known through group exhibitions such as the Seventh anniversary of the ruling party exhibition in Baghdad and the Third exhibition of contemporary Arab artists in London. Her most visible appearance came in 2002 with "Breaking the Veils: Women Artists from the Islamic World". She died in Baghdad in 1992, after being diagnosed with leukemia.