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F Ashkey
Master Mahmud Farshchian, World Famous Iranian Painter
Soroush, Cultural, Literary, Art & Social Weekly
Saturday, July 8, 1995
Pages: 4-8
Summary:
Master Mahmud Farshchian, prominent Iranian artist and painter has won
international fame for presenting exquisite works of art and also for
representing genuine Iranian arts. So far, the master has been awarded numerous
prizes by various artistic circles throughout the world. The master believes
that painting in Iran has a 15,000 year old background and insists that Iranian
painters should stick to genuine Iranian traditions and customs instead of
employing Western painting styles. He maintains that if Iranian painters wish
to present creative works they had better demonstrate Iranian identity and
authenticity in their works. Farshchian reiterates ``in my opinion, Iranian
painting can reach its apogee only when we use our own mysticism in our
works.''
Text:
The ancient Islamic culture of Iran has always taken an outstanding position in
the history of mankind. This sublime culture has also played a key role in
building human culture. Once, the Iranian culture was a dominant culture in a
vast part of the world stretching from China to the heart of Europe. At that
time, the Persian language was spoken and written in many parts of the world
and one could communicate with other people with this language. The traces of
Iranian and Islamic culture and civilization can be clearly seen in every work
of art in the four corners of the world. Persian scripts and Iranian Islamic
paintings have decorated historical sites located around the globe.
Today, Persian manuscripts are kept in many libraries and museums all over the
world. There can be found only few civilizations that enjoy such a glorious
past as the Islamic civilization of Iran does now. Generally speaking, most
civilizations were confined to the geographical boundaries of the countries
where they had emerged in the past and the number of civilizations that have
gone beyond the boundaries of the countries of their origin does not exceed the
number of fingers in one hand. The Islamic culture of Iran has a brilliant
image among other cultures of the world. If the culture prevailing in the world
is to be analyzed according to the components that make it, then a noticeable
share of it will belong to the Iranian Islamic culture.
The Iranian culture still enjoys such personalities that not only have
preserved their genuineness despite various challenges but also are looked upon
with wonder and appreciation because of their attractive mystical and spiritual
characteristics. The paintings of Master Mahmud Farshchian fall in this
category. Over the past few decades, the Master's paintings have been among a
few works of art which have gone beyond the geographical boundaries of Iran and
have gained international reputation. The Master is among a few Iranian
painters whose works are ideal for presentation at international cultural fora.
Contrary to those painters who are seeking to decipher the wonderful mystery of
the art of painting in the works belonging to other civilizations, Master
Farshchian brought such dignity and credibility for Iranian paintings that has
caught all art critics by surprise. The Master's works reflect all Iranian
characteristics because he is a man of knowledge who is familiar with
mysticism. All wonders, mysteries, subtleties and brightness of Iranian Islamic
arts are quite evident in the Master's works and his paintings depict not only
the features of his motherland but also the independent and universal identity
of the Islamic culture of Iran.
In other words, the Master's works of art are indicative of the civilization
and culture of our country without the artist having to resort to artificial
means to show the authenticity of his paintings. As a matter of fact, the
Master's paintings manifest the aspirations and ideal of human beings. Frequent
reproduction of Master Farshchian's works in Iran and abroad lend proof to the
popularity of this Iranian artist who has been the standard bearer of Iranian
arts over the past few years and whose name has always come with Iranian
painting. The first degree medal of art and culture conferred on the Master by
President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on July 3, 1995, was a mark of the respect
given to the valuable and superb works of this master.
Master Mahmud Farshchian was born in 1929 in Isfahan in a family whose members
were all fond of arts. For several years, Master Farshchian was the student of
such prominent masters of the time as Haj Aqa Mirza Aqa Emami and Issa
Bahadori. After graduating from the Isfahan vocational arts school, Master
Farshchian traveled to Europe where he began studying about the works of world
famous Western artists. The Master's paintings have been put on display at 37
individual and 62 collective exhibitions held in Iran, Europe, America and Asia
and have been highly acclaimed by art critics and art loving people of the
world. At present, the Master's paintings are on show at the prestigious art
galleries and museums of Europe and the U.S. This has added to the Master's
popularity with those people who are fond of the art of painting so much so
that he is now known as a distinguished figure who represents Iranian painting.
Master Farshchian, who is now compiling an encyclopedia of Islamic paintings,
believes that the national Islamic arts in Iran have made eye-catching
progress. He says when he was teaching many years ago, he hit upon many
problems which stemmed from the spread of Westernization trend which had deeply
infiltrated Iranian arts. But now because of various exhibitions held in the
country and the interest shown by young Iranian artists, the attention of the
public is being gradually diverted to the genuine Islamic arts and I do not
think it is necessary to seek help from the outside world. Iranian painters and
artists should learn new things that exist in the arts of other countries and
incorporate them into their own art.
Addressing Iranian artists particularly young painters now endeavoring to
promote the art of painting in Iran, Master Farshchian reminded them that they
should do their jobs for the sake of God and with an aim of purifying their own
souls.
The Master was asked: ``As you know, the Iranian painting style has been
subjected to constant attacks since two or three decades ago for various
reasons, what do you, as a man who links the glorious past of the Iranian
painting to its bright future, think you and other committed painters should do
in this regard?''
He replied: "When we look at the time immemorial, we come across evidence and
documents which prove that Iranian painting has a 15,000 year old background.
The painting drawn on the walls of caves located in the Iranian provinces of
Lorestan and Kurdestan indicate that men living at that time drew the pictures
of men and animals using primitive instruments and burnt animal fat. This
continued until painting in its present form emerged in Iran. There is a wrong
presumption that the art of painting was first brought to Iran from China. It
is not true because the Iranians themselves have had the talent and means
necessary for painting and therefore there has been no need for them to imitate
the works of others or draw inspiration from them. For instance, paintings
around earthenware objects that are kept at the Louvre Museum in Paris date
back to more than 5,000 years ago. The colors used in that painting are so fast
that have surprised art experts.
"In later eras, we see drawings in the ruins of Persepolis. No doubt, those who
created such works of art knew a lot about painting. In the Sassanid era, the
foundation of painting was partially laid in Iran. With the advent of Islam,
the art of painting underwent great transformations to an extent that painting
assumed the same position and significance as that of worship and it even was
used to adorn the words of God. Other styles of painting which came into
existence later such as Herat style indicated the fact that painting in Iran
was at its peak at that period. The best example of this is Shahnameh Tahmasebi
which is now kept at the Contemporary Arts Museum of Tehran. This work of art
is unique in the world and we should congratulate those who managed to return
this superb book to Iran in exchange for several paintings drawn by world
famous foreign painters. There exist good samples of paintings dating from
Safavid era that prove that painting in Iran reached its apogee in that period.
When we look at the history of arts in a country, we realize that the
brilliance of those arts became known centuries after their emergence.
"For instance, when we look at historical minarets, mosques and monuments, we
promptly realize the perfection of arts in the Safavid era. We also know that
the artistic works belonging to the Afsharid period were not as elegant and
magnificent as those of Safavid period. A work of art belonging to that period
is the book `Jahangoshay-e Naderi' which is highly different from artistic
works of Safavid era. Therefore Iranian paintings have a lot to offer and it is
worth scrutinizing them.
"When studying the history of painting of the world, we notice that every
painting in any part, region or country of the world has it own indigenous and
national characteristics. For example, China, Japan, India, France or America
have their own features in their paintings. Even the American Indians and black
people have their own native arts. So has Australia or other countries of the
world. Although minorities are more exposed to the cultural attacks of the
white majority they have preserved their native traits in their paintings. When
one looks at paintings on display at exhibitions organized by China, the first
thing that catches his or her attention is that there are innovations in those
works of art while at the same time they have preserved their cultural
genuineness. The same thing is seen in India, even in Turkey which has failed
to present noticeable works, and particularly in France and Italy which are
cradles of arts.
"In other words, although, painting in those countries is modern it still
depicts the spirit and features of their respective homelands. This indicates
the adherence of foreign painters to the customs, culture and features of their
own countries. In Iran, we need to return to our customs and traditions on
which our society has been based for thousands of years. If we want to
innovate, we should depict our genuineness and originality in our artistic
works. In Iranian paintings known as miniature we should depict our Iranian
originality and identity. When works of an Iranian painter are displayed at an
exhibition in Europe, they may be acceptable to European visitors but they are
actually keen to get to know more about the features of original Iranian
paintings. It is now more than 90 years since miniature was first introduced to
Iranian painting. But miniature gradually deviated from its main path to an
extent that whenever one spoke of this art, it would immediately give an
impression of dancing, wine ...etc. Perhaps, this was due to the fact that
since the Iranian painting was of high significance certain people wanted to
belittle and degrade it by converting it solely into the shapes of glasses of
wine and portraits of human beings. Sometimes such paintings came with poems of
Khayyam, Hafez and Saadi (three renowned Iranian poets). But the truth is that
the picture of an old man can be a symbol of wisdom or the picture of a young
girl can be the symbol of beauty.
"However, a painter could combine the subjects existing around him in a way
that it symbolized spirituality and mysticism. What was known as miniature in
the world had nothing to do with such worldly things, because those using this
style employed other subjects around them to depict spirituality in their
works. This served to inflict substantial damage on Iranian arts. When European
paintings came to Iran, students and those artists who really loved arts,
noticed that there were some characteristics in European paintings through
which they could materialize their mentality. But this was a wrong idea because
what they wanted to draw was no longer an Iranian painting. We should do
something to enable Iranian painters to preserve and demonstrate in the best
possible manner their Iranian identity and techniques. If we manage to do this
then we can call our work successful. In short, throughout history, painting
has been confined to lyrical shapes. It has never been subjective nor has it
been able to infiltrate the soul of human beings. In my opinion, Iranian
painting can reach its apogee only when we make use of our mysticism and its
sublime aspects, and in doing so I believe that artists should be free to
demonstrate spirituality and feelings.
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More on Farshchian at:
http://netiran.com/Htdocs/Clippings/Art/950708XXAR02.html
and
http://home.sol.no/~ebi/farsh.html
Visit following sites on some of other Iranian Artists:
http://tehran.stanford.edu/Images/images.html
http://www.irib.com/ouriran/art/negareha/htmls/en/1.htm
http://www.art-in-guelph.com/Pages/mmodonpour.html
http://www.irib.com/ouriran/art/HTMLS/EN/miniature.htm
http://www.qsourceinc.com/khaleghi/gallery.html
http://members.aol.com/OstadISA/index.html
Enjoy,
F Ashkey
robert wilson
Thank you for the information and the links, I really enjoyed them.
Robert Wilson