Aydin Aghdashloo
Encyclopedia
Aydin Aghdashloo is an Iranian
painter
, author
, art critic
, art historian and graphic designer
.
He currently lives in Tehran
, Iran
and lectures in different Iranian Universities besides his professional work.
between 1919 and 1920. After the invasion of Azerbaijan by the Soviet Red Army
in 1920, he and his wife Nahid, Aydin's mother, had to flee Baku
, Azerbaijan and take refuge in Tabriz
, Iran. To avoid identification by the Soviet spies in Iran, Mammad changed his last name from Hajiev to Aghdashloo and moved to Rasht later, where Aydin was born, and then finally to Tehran when Aghdashloo was 5 years old.
Aydin Aghdashloo started selling his paintings from the age of 14, two years after his father's death as a result of kidney
complications.
, as the "Head of Artistic Affairs of Shahbanu's Special Bureau". His responsibilities included purchase of artworks from contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol
, Pablo Picasso
and Claude Monet
for the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
. He also helped establish the Reza Abbasi Museum
in Tehran in 1977 and was the head of the museum until 1979.
He married his first wife, Iranian actress Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar, aka Shohreh Aghdashloo
, in 1972. They divorced in 1979.
Aghdashloo had to adjust himself to the new strict rules imposed by the government to control and Islamicize
arts and culture. Before being allowed to teach in Iranian universities in 1981, he started his private art classes which he still continues to teach, beside lecturing in a number of universities in Iran.
He married Firouzeh Athari in 1981 from which they have a son and a daughter.
and Sandro Botticelli
's paintings in particular. He even used to test his own skills by copying Botticelli's works to the last detail. His admiration for Renaissance paintings lead to the creation of his "Memories of Destruction" series in the early 1970s which became his most celebrated and famous series. In these series Aghdashloo depicts destruction of identity and beauty by painting a complete Renaissance masterpiece and then partially destroy or deface it.
"Memories of Destruction" continued after 1979 but went through a transformation in which Islamic art
became his main model instead of Renaissance art, while in both periods he uses Islamic and Renaissance models simultaneously.
He also uses Persian miniature
s extensively in his paintings after 1979. The crumpled Persian miniature series are the best example.
art history and artifacts. He assesses items for auction houses such as Christie's
and Sotheby's
.
Aghdashloo has published eight books; three articles collections, two paintings collections and two researches in Iranian art history.
He has been teaching art and art history in a number of universities in Iran since 1981.
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, art critic
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
, art historian and graphic designer
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
.
He currently lives in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and lectures in different Iranian Universities besides his professional work.
Early life
Aydin Aghdashloo's father, Mammad Aghdashloo (born Mammad Hajiev) was an engineer and the Interior Minister in Azerbaijan Democratic RepublicAzerbaijan Democratic Republic
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was the first successful attempt to establish a democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world . The ADR was founded on May 28, 1918 after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917 by Azerbaijani National Council in...
between 1919 and 1920. After the invasion of Azerbaijan by the Soviet Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
in 1920, he and his wife Nahid, Aydin's mother, had to flee Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
, Azerbaijan and take refuge in Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
, Iran. To avoid identification by the Soviet spies in Iran, Mammad changed his last name from Hajiev to Aghdashloo and moved to Rasht later, where Aydin was born, and then finally to Tehran when Aghdashloo was 5 years old.
Aydin Aghdashloo started selling his paintings from the age of 14, two years after his father's death as a result of kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
complications.
Shah's era
Aghdashloo was appointed by the Shahbanu (Empress) of Iran, Farah PahlaviFarah Pahlavi
Farah Pahlavi is the former Queen and Empress of Iran. She is the widow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, and only Empress of modern Iran...
, as the "Head of Artistic Affairs of Shahbanu's Special Bureau". His responsibilities included purchase of artworks from contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
and Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
for the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Art is an art museum in Tehran, Iran.Inaugurated in 1977, and built adjacent to Tehran's Laleh Park, the museum was designed by Iranian architect Kamran Diba, who employed elements from traditional Persian architecture. The building can be listed as a contemporary...
. He also helped establish the Reza Abbasi Museum
Reza Abbasi Museum
The Reza Abbasi Museum is a museum in Tehran, Iran. It is located in Seyed Khandan. The museum is named after Reza Abbasi, one of the artists in the Safavid period.-History:...
in Tehran in 1977 and was the head of the museum until 1979.
He married his first wife, Iranian actress Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar, aka Shohreh Aghdashloo
Shohreh Aghdashloo
Shohreh Aghdashloo is an Iranian American actress.After establishing a theatre and film career in Iran, Aghdashloo moved to England during the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and subsequently became a citizen of the United States...
, in 1972. They divorced in 1979.
After 1979
After the Iranian revolution of 1979, Aghdashloo lost both his official jobs and was under threat by Khomeini's regime and was barred from leaving Iran for over 10 years, until 1989.Aghdashloo had to adjust himself to the new strict rules imposed by the government to control and Islamicize
Islamicism
Islamicism can refer to:*Islamic fundamentalism *Islamic studies...
arts and culture. Before being allowed to teach in Iranian universities in 1981, he started his private art classes which he still continues to teach, beside lecturing in a number of universities in Iran.
He married Firouzeh Athari in 1981 from which they have a son and a daughter.
Paintings
Early in his career, Aghdashloo took great interest in the RenaissanceRenaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
and Sandro Botticelli
Sandro Botticelli
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance...
's paintings in particular. He even used to test his own skills by copying Botticelli's works to the last detail. His admiration for Renaissance paintings lead to the creation of his "Memories of Destruction" series in the early 1970s which became his most celebrated and famous series. In these series Aghdashloo depicts destruction of identity and beauty by painting a complete Renaissance masterpiece and then partially destroy or deface it.
"Memories of Destruction" continued after 1979 but went through a transformation in which Islamic art
Islamic art
Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the 7th century onwards by people who lived within the territory that was inhabited by or ruled by culturally Islamic populations...
became his main model instead of Renaissance art, while in both periods he uses Islamic and Renaissance models simultaneously.
He also uses Persian miniature
Persian miniature
A Persian miniature is a small 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. The techniques are broadly comparable to the Western and Byzantine traditions of miniatures in illuminated manuscripts...
s extensively in his paintings after 1979. The crumpled Persian miniature series are the best example.
Other
Besides painting, Aghdashloo is an expert in Iranian pre-Islamic and IslamicIslamicization in post-conquest Iran
The Islamization of Iran occurred as a result of the Islamic conquest of Persia. It was a long process by which Islam was gradually accepted by the majority of population. On the other hand Iranians have maintained their pre-Islamic traditions including language and culture and adapted them with...
art history and artifacts. He assesses items for auction houses such as Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
and Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
.
Aghdashloo has published eight books; three articles collections, two paintings collections and two researches in Iranian art history.
He has been teaching art and art history in a number of universities in Iran since 1981.
External links
- Aydin Aghdashloo's Official Website
- Ali DehbāshiAli DehbashiAli Dehbashi is an Iranian journalist, Iranologist, researcher and writer.Ali Dehbashi is a member of Societas Iranologica Europaea , and has attended many meetings in its periodical conferences in different universities and cultural centers all over the world.He is also the chief editor of...
, Aghdashloo, a passer-by by the side of the wall (Aghdashloo, āberi dar kenār-e divār), in Persian, Jadid Online, January 30, 2009, http://www.jadidonline.com/story/30012009/frnk/aydin_aghdashloo.
• Aghdashloo: Living to Paint, in English, Jadid Online, 14 May 2009, http://www.jadidonline.com/story/14052009/frnk/aydin_aghdashloo.
• Audio slideshow by Shokā Sahrā'i, in Persian (with English subtitles), Jadid Online, 2009: http://www.jadidonline.com/images/stories/flash_multimedia/Aydin_aghdashloo_eng_test/aydin_high.html (7 min 6 sec).