April 12 coincided with the death anniversary of one of the most celebrated Iranian contemporary painters Abbas Katouzian.
“I love my country and the traditions and rituals of this ancient land. I have lovingly tried to narrate the history of independence in my country on canvas,” the artist had once said, expressing his love, aspirations and admiration for his motherland, ISNA reported.
Born in 1923 in Tehran, Katouzian studied art history and chose Kamal-ol-Molk, a prominent Iranian master painter, as his mentor at a young age. He followed his master in developing the realism in Iran. Realism was an artistic movement that began in France in the 1850s, after the 1848 Revolution. It is the attempt to represent subject matters truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, implausible, exotic and supernatural elements.
Soon he would gain national recognition as a master artist who later founded 26 exhibitions in Teheran and 9 in Abadan, southern Iran.
In 1973 he participated in a joint exhibition at the National Consultative Assembly with the works of the late Kamal-ol-Molk. His paintings have appeared in more than 200 magazines worldwide.
Katouzian’s other artistic accomplishments were featured exhibitions at five galleries in the US, one in London (at the National Library), and two in France. These were followed by numerous TV and radio interviews as his work gained intentional acclaim.
Ordinary people’s portrait, the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war, flowers and fruits were the themes in most of his works. The ‘Kurdish Girl’, ‘Old Painter’, and ‘Cashmere Seller’ are among his most famous and reproduced paintings.
Throughout his career, Katouzian demonstrated artistic vision, talent, personal integrity and humility. His works are now on display at local and foreign museums including in Astan Quds Razavi (Imam Reza’s Shrine) in Mashhad and the Museum of Fine Arts in the Hungarian capital.
The distinguished and highly respected painter died in Tehran in 2008 at the age of 86.
