Mahmoud Sabri was one of the pioneers of modern Iraqi art and a leading figure in the country's modernist movement. Born in Baghdad, he moved to the United Kingdom in the late 1940s to study social sciences at Loughborough University. During this period, he developed a strong interest in painting and, after a brief career in banking, devoted himself entirely to art. In the 1950s, Sabri became one of the first Iraqi artists to make social and political issues the central focus of his work.

Between 1961 and 1963, Sabri studied at the Surikov Institute of Art in Moscow. After relocating to Prague, he pursued research on the relationship between art and science. He was a founding member of the Al-Ruwwad (Pioneers) Group and, in 1971, introduced his theory of "Quantum Realism," an artistic approach inspired by scientific concepts that sought to represent reality at the atomic level. Sabri continued to develop this theory throughout his life and published numerous writings on art, philosophy, and politics. He died in Maidenhead, England, on 13 April 2012.