Prophet in Love I

Christie's is pleased to offer three beautiful and unusual sculptures by the Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli, from the distinguished collection of Mr. Peter Stankovich who is an art dealer and his wife, Mrs. Lisa Stankovich, a practicing attorney both living in Flagstaff, Arizona. The works were acquired fourteen years ago from their longtime friend Donald A. Jensen, a colleague and close friend of the artist Parviz Tanavoli. Jensen and Tanavoli met at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and were both friends with the well-known American collector Abby Grey. When Jensen initially acquired the present works from the artist, Tanavoli also gifted him a few other pieces in exchange of Jensens own artworks. Poet in Love I is an elegant standing sculpture dated 1962 and is one of the earliest examples from the most sought-after series by the artist to ever appear at auction. Other works from the series can be found in major collections such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Poets and Prophets have been the main themes explored throughout Tanavolis works since the early 1960s and some outstanding examples from the Poet series can be found today in major collections around the world, namely the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Architecture and poetry combine in Tanavolis Poets - the figures are built of components which recall those of Islamic architecture, whilst part of the body are incised with an illegible poetic text. The Poet not only reveals the artists inspiration by Persian mysticism in which the poet acts as a metaphor for a pious Muslim or a devoted Sufi, but also alludes to notions of love and freedom. His traits are reduced to simple geometric, rounded forms obliterating distinctive facial features or gestures as if to focus on the essence of his work and the expression of his sentimens. Most of Tanavolis bronze sculptures are abstract portrayals of the human figure, but his ceramics depict more innocent subjects such as animals and trees, reminiscent of his childhood memories. The two subtle and delicate ceramic works offered in Christies Part II sale are inspired by the ceramic that was used on tiles, shrines, mosques and entrances to the bazaars in the artists homeland and depict fictional and mythical creatures referencing the Iranian traditional poetry and art of illustration.