Lot 91: Untitled

Nasrollah Afjehei (Iranian, b. 1933) Untitled signed in Farsi, signed 'Afjei' (lower right) acrylic on canvas 66½ x 66½in. (168.8 x 168.8cm.) Painted in 2015

168.8 x 168.8cm.

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner.

The present work by Nasrollah Afjehei is a captivating and elegant depiction of the waves of a woman's hair seen from the back. With his delicate and tightly written calligraphy strands that flow down the monumental expanse of the picture surface like rippling waves, Afjehei confronts the viewer with areas of shifting calligraphic components which gently bend, expand and contract to simulate the curves of the hair. The result is a sense of graceful movement and dynamism. The streams of the brown hair that tumble down the canvas recall Afjehei's body of works as it fuses both abstraction and figuration. The hair takes up the entirety of the composition and thus becomes the sole focus of the viewer. But when looking closer, one sees delicate letters intertwining as if to evoke the call for freedom and the urge for women in the contemporary Iranian society to express themselves, as if unveiling their hair is equally a way for expression. Afjehei's works although abstract in style often reference the reality that surrounds him. The present work is one of his most striking compositions and it recalls the celebrated paintings of the Italian artist Domenico Gnoli whose Black Hair painting is one of the masterpieces he created at the pinnacle of his career. Gnoli's streams of black hair recall the abstract works of artists such as Morris Louis and Ad Reinhardt and the Surrealist compositions of the Belgian master Ren Magritte. Afjehei's composition in turn certainly references art history, but its inspiration stems from the Iranian contemporary society and culture in which Afjehei lives.