Massoud Arabshahi (; 1935–2019), was an Iranian painter, and

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

sculptor. He was a leading member of the Saqqakhaneh movement, and was known for his conceptual artwork. Arabshahi had worked in Tehran, Paris, and California.

Early life and education

Massoud Arabshahi was born in 1935 in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, Pahlavi Iran. He has attended the Public High School for Fine Arts in Tehran. In 1968, he graduated from the College of Decorative Arts at Tehran University (now

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...

). Arabshahi had studied painting under Shokouh Riazi.

Career

His sources of inspiration comprise

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...

and

Assyrian art Assyrian sculpture is the sculpture of the ancient Assyrian states, especially the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911 to 612 BC, which was centered around the city of Assur in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) which at its height, ruled over all of Mesopotam ...

as well as Babylonian carvings and inscriptions. Combining tradition and modernity. Arabshahi held his first solo exhibition at the Iran-India Centre, Tehran, in 1964, four years before graduating from university. Arabshahi work's was created in various mediums, including oil paint-on-canvas, architectural bas-reliefs, and other sculptures. Arabshahi's bas-reliefs were commissioned for the Office for Industry and Mining (1971), Tehran; and for the California Insurance Building (1985) in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...

, U.S.. Arabshahi played a pivotal role in the establishing the Iran Gallery () in Tehran, founded in 1964 by Arabshahi,

Mansoor Ghandriz Mansoor Ghandriz ( fa, منصور قندریز; 2 March 1936 – 26 February 1966) was an Iranian painter and printmaker. He used Iranian forms in modern art and was one of the pioneers of the Saqqakhaneh movement. Ghandriz is best known for his ...

, Rouin Pakbaz,

Faramarz Pilaram Faramarz Pilaram (; 1937–1983, or 1982) was an Iranian painter and educator. He is known for his abstract, and calligraphy-based modern paintings. Pilaram was a pioneer within the Saqqakhaneh school, a neo-traditionalist art movement. There wer ...

, Sadegh Tabrizi, Mohammad-Reza Jodat, Ghobad Shiva, Sirus Malek, Farshid Mesghali, Parviz Mahallati,

Morteza Momayez Morteza Momayez ( fa, مرتضی ممیز; August 26, 1936 – October 25, 2005) was an Iranian graphic designer. He was one of the founders of Iranian Graphic Design Society (IGDS) and held a membership to Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) ...

, and Hadi Hezareiy. After the death of artist Mansoor Ghandriz in 1966, the Iran Gallery was renamed Ghandriz Gallery () in his honor; and it remained open until the summer of 1978 during the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

. In 1975,

Marcos Grigorian Marcos Grigorian, also known as Marco Grigorian ( hy, Մարկոս Գրիգորեան; fa, مارکو گريگوريان; December 5, 1925 – August 27, 2007) was an Iranian-Armenian and American artist and gallery owner, and he was a pioneer o ...

founded of the ''Group of Free Painters and Sculptors'' in Tehran. The other founding artists included Arabshahi, Gholamhossein Nami,

Mir Abdolrez Daryabeigi Abdolrez Daryabeigi (January 30, 1930 – November 1, 2012), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian artist, Art dealer, gallerist, and an innovator of Iranian modern art. He was active in Tehran and Paris. Biography Daryabeigi was born in Rasht in no ...

, and

. Arabshahi's work has been shown in a number of solo and group exhibitions in Iran,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

including ''Two Modernist Iranian Pioneers'', at the

Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, ( Persian: موزه هنرهای معاصر تهران), also known as TMoCA, is among the largest art museums in Tehran and Iran. It has collections of more than 3,000 items that include 19th and 20th centur ...

, 2001; and ''Iranian Contemporary Art'', Barbican Centre, London, 2001. He died on September 16, 2019 in Tehran, Iran.

Prizes

* 1964, Ministry of Arts and Culture Prize, 4th Tehran Biennial * 1965, Mother's Day Exhibition Prize, Tehran * 1972, First Prize, Public contest for sculpture ornament at the Farah-abad Park, Tehran * 1973, First Prize, Monaco International Exhibition

Exhibitions

* 1964, Tehran, Iran, India Artistic Center * 1965, Tehran, Iran, Tehran University * 1965, Paris, France, Biennial * 1967, Paris, France, Galerie Solstice * 1967, Paris, France, Museum of Sacred Arts * 1968, U.S.A, Mobile Exhibition of Contemporary Iranian Arts * 1970, Tehran, Iran, Modern Iranian Art: a Retrospective, Iran American Society * 1971, Tehran, Iran, Negar Gallery * 1973, Paris, France, Grand Palais * 1973, Paris, France, Galerie Guiot * 1973, Monaco, France, Monaco International Exhibition, Monte Carlo * 1974, Tehran, Iran, International Exhibition of Arts * 1975, Tehran, Iran, Blue, Takhte Jamshid Gallery * 1975, Tehran, Iran, Volume and Environment, Iran America Society

References

External links

''Elahe Art Gallery''
Biography and artworks on Elahe Art Gallery
''Mah Art Gallery''
Biography, Selected Works and Exhibitions on Mah Art Gallery
''Seyhoun Art Gallery''
Massoud Arabshahi Exhibit - Seyhoun Gallery, USA Male painters Male sculptors 1935 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Iranian painters 20th-century Iranian sculptors 21st-century Iranian painters 21st-century Iranian sculptors 20th-century Iranian male artists 21st-century Iranian male artists People from Tehran {{Iran-painter-stub