Lot 30: * Parviz Tanavoli (Iran, born 1937) Farhad's lover (Shirin) and the Arab

Parviz Tanavoli (Iran, born 1937)
Farhad's lover (Shirin) and the Arab mixed media on panel, framed inscribed "Parviz Tanavoli" in Arabic and English on the verso, executed circa 196593 x 48cm (36 5/8 x 18 7/8in).

Provenance:Property from a private collection, CaliforniaAcquired directly from the artist in Tehran circa late 1960'sThe present work is an extremely rare appearance of an early painting by Parviz Tanavoli, demonstrating the incredible versatility with which this artist operated, oscillating between painting, sculpture, tapestry and across a vast array of materialsTitled "Farhad's Lover and the Arab Man", the present work is an interesting political and historical commentary on the turbulent changes in Iranian society during the invasion of the Rashidun Caliphate in the seventh century. Khosrow's lover, who was Shirin, a Sassanian princess renowned for her beauty, is being sexually defiled by an Arab soldier, perhaps a testament to the cultural desecration that would see much of Iran's pre-Islamic heritage lost till its later revival by the poet Ferdowsi From 1960 on, Parviz Tanavoli became a pioneering figure in contemporary Iranian art, revisiting Persian traditions and modern sculpture. While he was studying art in Tehran in the mid-1950s, the Iranian government's cultural policy was opening to Western practices, at the same time as encouraging the development of national and traditional arts. This led Tanavoli to study sculpture in Milan at the end of the 1950s and teach for two and a half years in Minneapolis in the early 1960s. Returning to Tehran and reflecting on the modernization of Iranian art, his studio soon transformed into a hub for exhibitions and collective reflection. Gathering artists and poets, his studio, Atelier Kaboud, was the fertile ground for the formation of the Saqqakhaneh School. The most influential avant-garde movement in 1960s Iran, the Saqqakhaneh School developed a visual language drawing on popular culture and its symbols, re-appropriating traditions with a modernist stance.Parviz Tanavoli's practice, developed throughout the 1960s and 1970s, is characterised by the modern incorporation of traditional techniques, notably everyday handicrafts found in the blacksmiths, foundries and pottery workshops of Tehran, and traditional subjects such as popular love stories as depicted in Persian poetry. Recurrent in his works are motifs taken from religious folk art, especially the saqqakhaneh, a votive fountain protected by metal grills. Many of his works pay tribute to the legendary love story of Farhad, the only sculptor mentioned in classical Persian poetry, who challenged the Sassanian King Khosrow Parviz (r. 590 to 628), his rival for the hand of the beloved princess Shirin. Tanavoli reinterprets, throughout his works, this poetic legend as well as icons found in Shiite folk art, such as the cage, the lion, the lock and the bird, using geometric forms and new mediums.