Classic Persian Art Objects 2 Arabic Calligraphy on Sâmânid Bowl Nishâpur, 10th century
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Painting of the Tabriz Blue Mosque by Jules Laurens (1825-1901)
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Jâme’ Mosque, Yazd built in the 12th and rebuilt in the 14th century
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Uljaiti Mehrâb, Jâmé’ Mosque, Esfahân
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Shrine to 12er Shi’ite Muslim Imam Rezâ (d. 818), Mashhad Construction from the late 9th century onward Gowharshâd Mosque built in the 15th century
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Safavid Garden Compartment Design
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Garden Carpet, Esfahân, Safavid Era
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Ardabil Shrine Carpet, 1539-40 Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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Esfahân’s Royal Square, early 17th century Shaykh Lotfolâh (l) and Shâh Mosques, Âli Qâpu Royal Pavilion (r)
• From the outside, Iranian mosque shapes, colors, and designs bring the sky down to earth and promise a safe haven from the harsh outside world within their courtyards and precincts. Their designs seem to be images of the gardens of heaven and infinite, indefinable divinity , while the whole enclosed space speaks to an ordered world within under control.
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Âli Qâpu Pavillion, Royal Square, Esfahân
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Shâh Mosque, Royal Square, Esfahân
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Moqarnas, Shâh Mosque Entrance, Royal Square, Esfahân
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Exterior Dome. Shâh Mosque Dome, Royal Square, Esfahân
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Shaykh Lotfollâh Mosque, Royal Square, Esfahân
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Interior Dome, Sheikh Lotfollâh Mosque, Royal Square, Esfahân
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Chehel Sotun Palace, Esfahân, Safavid Era
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Khâju Bridge, Esfahân
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Qashqâ’I Boteh Medallion and Persepolis Columns Design Carpet
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Bakhtiyâri Garden Compartment Design Carpet
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Baluch Tree-of-Life Design Carpet
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Kâshân Afshân Design Carpet
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Kermân Floral Medallion with Plain Field Design Carpets
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Tekkeh Torkaman Gol Design Carpet
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Lovers’ Scene from Hâfez’s Divân, 1527
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from Nezâmi’s Five Treasures
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Lovers, Esfahân, Safavid Era
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Lovers, Esfahân, Safavid Era
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Lovers, Esfahân, Qâjâr Era
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Lovers by Nasser Ovissi (b. 1934)
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Kamâlolmolk (1847-1940), Musicians
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˙Mausoleum of the Poet Hâfez (c.1320-c.1390), Shirâz, 1936
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Mausoleum of the Poet Sa’di (c.1215–c.1295), Shirâz, built in 1953
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Bâgh-e Eram, 19th century, Shirâz
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Golestån Palace, Tehrân, rebuilt 1865
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Tomb of Omar Khayyâm (1048-1131)
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Nâder Shâh (r. 1737-1748) Statue, Mashhad
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Freedom Tower, Tehrân, 1972
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Milâd Tower and the Tehrân skyline
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Tehran Contemporary Art Museum
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Tehrân mural, 200x the birds in ‘Attâr’s Conference of the Birds flying toward Simorgh
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Tehran Mural, Muhammad’s Mi’râj
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Tehrân’s Milâd Tower and a 21st-century Persian miniature-style wall mural
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Sohrâb Sepehri (1928-1980)
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late 20th-century Qashqâ’i boteh medallion garden carpet with Persepolis columns and protoma
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Philatelic Art, Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979-
“Hejâb” [Muslim Woman’s Covering] Postage Stamp, Islamic Republic of Iran, 1980s
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U.S. Hostage and Iranian Airbus Stamps
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Photographs by Antoin Sevruguin (1833-1930)
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Nasser Ovissi (b. 1934 ), the popular expatriate Iranian painter, depicts horses in many of his paintings, including paintings that evoke the distant Iranian past.
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Hossein Zenderoudi (b. 1937) Contemporary calligraphic painting of the texts of two Hâfezian ghazals
Thorns and Roses
Rendezvous
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Hooshang Seyhoun (1920-2014)
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Water color paintings by Badri Borghei
Shab-e Yaldâ Gathering, December 21, the longest night of the year
Did-o Bâzdid [Norooz/New Year’s visiting]
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“Hich” [nothing] by Parviz Tanavoli (b. 1937)
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Paintings by Parviz Kalântari (1931-2016)
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Characteristics of Iranian Art • vegetal/floral forms • gardens: spring/royal/heavenly • spring (season) • kingship • kings as the quintessential Iranians • God • religion • Persianness • decoration/ornament/embellishment………............ • ceremonialness • idealization/stylization of “real” world • depiction of an imaginary “pretty” world • eclecticism of style • curvilinear/rectilinear/geometric forms • expression of hybridity and dualities (e.g., simultaneous impression of spontaneity/order, presence of past and present, Islam and non-Islam, etc.)
Factors in an Iranian Aesthetics of Decoration • formality • ceremonialness The Roman poet Horace (xx-xx BCE) said: “Persicos odi puer apparatus” [Boy, I hate Persian pomp!] (Odes, Book I, 37). • color and intricate design in an environment that is otherwise • order and beauty in an environment that is chaotic and not beautiful
• A handful of “classic” art objects by younger generations of artists featured in Contemporary Iranian Art: New Perspectives (2013) by Hamid Keshmirshekan to be identified in the course of presentations and discussions of this slide show.
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