Massoud Arabshahi (Iranian, B. 1935)
THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 
Massoud Arabshahi (Iranian, B. 1935)

Untitled

Details
Massoud Arabshahi (Iranian, B. 1935)
Untitled
signed and dated in Farsi (lower right); signed twice 'Massoud Arabshahi' (on the reverse)
oil, gold leaf, silverpaint, string, metal rings and cardboard collage on canvas
52 3/8 x 43 3/8in. (135 x 110cm.)
Executed in 1957
Provenance
Hoor art gallery, Tehran.
Anon. sale, Christie's Dubai, 24 May 2006, lot 99. Acquired at the above by the present owner.
Exhibited
Tehran, Museum of Contemporary Art, Pioneers of Iranian Modern Art, December 2001, no. 32 (illustrated in colour, p. 56).

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Lot Essay

As one of the Masters of Iranian Modern Art, Massoud Arabshahi has used in his works a wide array of mediums from oil, gold leaf to found objects such as ropes, which he superimposed with symbols inspired from the Sassanian and Achaemenid imagery. In his early paintings of which the present work is a fine example, the symbols and the abstract vocabulary are merely decorative. Combined with the rich texture of the work, the aesthetic outcome is a harmonious and balanced composition.

The present lot executed in 1957 is the earliest and one of the most outstanding works by the artist to appear at auction. The elegant composition is reminiscent of the artist's cultural heritage and the reliefs seen throughout Ancient Mesopotamia, yet the work is strikingly modern.

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