Lot 93: Untitled

Farideh Lashai (Iranian, 1944-2013) Untitled signed and dated in Farsi (lower right); signed in Farsi (on a label affixed to the reverse) oil on canvas 39 3/8 x 39 3/8in. (100 x 100cm.) Painted in 2005

100 x 100cm.

Tehran, Mah Art Gallery, Farideh Lashai, 2005.

Mah Art Gallery, Tehran. Acquired from the above by the present owner.

One of the most admired and acclaimed painters in Iran and throughout the Middle East whose career spanned over five decades, Farideh Lashai has left an indelible mark on the region's art history. Deriving from Persian culture and inspired by miniatures and the Iranian calligraphic tradition, Lashai's works are a graceful combination of her cultural heritage with her passion for European arts and literature. Having studied German literature in Frankfurt and a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Lashai first started as a crystal designer at the Riedel Studios in Austria and later on worked at the Studio Rosenthal in Germany. The delicacy of her paintings stems from her background as a designer, but also relates to her multidisciplinary practices as she is considered an acclaimed painter, an artist who experimented with multimedia installations, but also a poet, a sculptor and a recognised translator of Bertold Brecht's writings. The present work by Farideh Lashai, a captivating and enchanting lyrical abstract painting, reflects on her strong ties with the natural world that surrounded her. As she stated in an interview with Canvas Magazine in 2007, 'I have never painted from nature; in the sense of painting a landscape I can look at. But I suppose I have painted by nature. The richness of nature amazes me, and amazement is the starting point for all artistic pursuits'. Subtle, tender yet composed of gestural brushstrokes, Farideh Lashai's works are colour fields on which she expresses herself. Her works are less concerned with surface treatment as they are with the seemingly unrestrained invasion of line. Mingling with both chaos and structured planes of colour, Lashai expresses herself through abstract scribbles that reflect on her inner feelings and need for self-expression. Her works become lyrical and ecstatic landscapes that are imbued with a reverence for nature's ability to conjure the infinite. The present work is a delicate and enchanting example from Farideh Lashai's outstanding body of work. Farideh Lashai's works are featured in important collections worldwide, including the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).