Hossein Behzad (1894 – 13 October 1968) (حسین بهزاد) was a prominent Iranian painter. His early work was in the styles of the old masters of Persian painting of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, hoping to save
Persian miniature painting
A Persian miniature ( Persian: نگارگری ایرانی ''negârgari Irâni'') is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a ''muraqqa''. Th ...
from oblivion.
Biography
Born in
Shiraz,
Iran in 1894 to Mirza Lotfollah Esfahani.
His father was a pen-holder designer.
He married Azizeh Khanam in 1921, who gave birth to their only child, Parviz.
During the early 1930s, Behzad reorganized Tehran's Madrasa-I Sanayi-I Mustazrafa.
In 1934 he left Tehran for
Paris and stayed for thirteen months.
During this time which time he studied various Eastern and Western painting styles at the
Louvre,
Guimet museum and
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...
. It was during this trip developed a completely new style of miniature painting, combining aspects of traditional Persian painting with contemporary painting from the West.
He became internationally known and won many awards including the 'first class medal of the ministry of culture' from Iran in 1949 and the 'first class medal of international painting' from
Minneapolis, USA in 1958.
In 1968 Behzad was give an honorary professorship by the College of Ornamental Arts, Behzad's works have been displayed across the world. To celebrate the millennium of
Avicenna
Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic G ...
, in 1953 he held an exhibition at the Iran Bastan Museum. This caused a sensation and was seen by many international visitors. The paintings on show, which took ten years to complete, included the like of
Ferdowsi
Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a sin ...
and the Maedan Arch. The exhibition became particularly important to scholars of oriental studies. In an article for the Vatan newspaper of Istanbul, Professor Soheil Anwar wrote, " Behzad, this great artist does not belong only to Iran. He now belongs to the world."
Shortly after, and to much critical acclaim, Behzad held an exhibition, which was sponsored by the French government, at the
Museum of Modern Art in Paris
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...
. The exhibition was opened by the French minister for culture on 18 May 1955.
He first practiced a conservative form of Neo-Safavidism, and later developed a new idiom that merged revivalism and modernism.
In 1956, fifty Behzad miniatures were put on display in the Library of Congress, Washington DC. As Behzad became a living master, he held exhibitions across the world including London, Prague, New York, Boston and Brussels, as well as in India and Japan.
Death and legacy
By 1968 Behzad had become ill and was sent twice to Europe by the Ministry of Culture. Despite this, Behzad died at 8:48pm on 13 October 1968 at the age of 74. He was buried at the cemetery near Imamzadeh Abdollah in Shahr-i Ray.
In honor of the artist, the ''Behzad Museum'' was founded in 1994, and is located in
Tehran's Sa'dabad Complex
and holds a large collection of his works.
Awards
* 1968 – Honorary title of Art Master by the Council of the Art Instructors of the College of Decorative Arts, Tehran
* 1953 – Avicenna Medal from Iran-Bastan Museum
* 1952 –
Olympic diploma for the best painting at the Olympic Painting Exhibition in Helsinki, Finland
See also
*
Baghdad School
The Baghdad School, also known as the Arab school, was a relatively short-lived yet influential school of Islamic art developed during the late 12th century in the capital Baghdad of the ruling Abbasid Caliphate. The movement had largely died o ...
*
Islamic art
*
Iranian art
*
Islamic calligraphy
*
List of Iranian artists
References
* Omar Khayyam: Vierzeiler (Rubāʿīyāt) übersetzt von Friedrich Rosen mit Miniaturen von Hossein Behzad.
Details
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Behzad, Hossein
1894 births
1968 deaths
Persian miniature painters
20th-century Iranian painters
People from Shiraz