Massoud Arabshahi born 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...

, 1935 is an Iranian 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...

.

Arabshahi held his first solo exhibition at the Iran-India Centre, Tehran, in 1964, four years before graduating from the College of Decorative Arts, Tehran. His work includes oils

Oil painting

Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...

 on canvas, sculpture

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

s and architectural reliefs- among the latter commissions for the Office for Industry and Mining, Tehran, 1971, and the California Insurance Building, Santa Rosa, California

Santa Rosa, California

Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...

, USA, 1985.

His sources of inspiration comprise Achaemenid and Assyrian art as well as Babylonian carvings and inscriptions. Combining tradition and modernity. His work has been shown in a number of solo and group exhibitions in Iran, Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 including Two Modernist Iranian Pioneers, at 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...

, 2001; and Iranian Contemporary Art, Barbican Centre

Barbican Centre

The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...

, London, 2001. He lives and works in Tehran and California.

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

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
• The British Museum