Lot 75: Reza Mafi (Iranian, 1943-1982)

Reza Mafi (Iranian, 1943-1982)
Untitled
signed in Farsi (lower right of the right panel)
oil on polystyrene on board, diptych
each panel 59 5/8 x 30in. (151 x 76cm.); overall 59 5/8 x 60in. (151 x 153cm.)
Executed in 1969 (2)

PROPERTY FROM AN IRANIAN PRIVATE COLLECTION

Reza Mafi came from a family of calligraphers and was himself a teacher of that art. In his paintings he experimented with the expressive qualities of nasta'liq, a hanging script developed in Iran during the fifteenth century which subsequently became the script of choice in almost all Persian poetic manuscripts. By focussing on the hanging tails of the letters, he reduced the script to its essentials to create a variety of expressive abstractions which as his style developed became increasingly minimalistic and elegant.
This is one of his most striking series is his group of three-dimensional works, reminiscent of moulded Persian tiles of previous centuries. The present lot, a diptych of carefully modulated greys, is among the largest and most impressive of this series.