Acclaimed artist Iran Darroudi has been invited to speak at ceremonies to honor her on her 79th birthday on September 2 at Shiraz and Nishabur Universities.
Darroudi is one of the most eminent contemporary Iranian artists and lives in Tehran and Paris. Her art comprises surreal paintings dealing with imagery and strong lighting, based on Iranian themes.
“The establishment of a foundation and home-museum is my ultimate goal. The process takes a lot of time though,” ISNA quoted her as saying.
She spoke about her passion for Iran and especially its pristine nature and deserts. “Deserts are the most common themes of my paintings.”
She acknowledged the support of Iranians who “visited me at a celebration of my book, even though there were no paintings to be shown or sold.”
“Iranians energize me in a way that I feel young enough to burn the midnight oil for my artworks.”
Background
Darroudi graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in Paris, studied the history of art at the Ecole du Louvre, and stained glass art at the Royal Academy of Brussels. She also studied television direction and production at the RCA Institute in New York.
Her first solo exhibition was in Miami in 1958 at the invitation of the Florida State Art Center. In 1968, she made a 55-minute documentary on the 1968 Venice Biennial.
She was appointed honorary professor at the Industrial University of Tehran to teach art history. In 1969, the ITT Corporation commissioned her to paint ‘Iranian Oil.’ This work was reproduced twice in 1969 and 1970, in famous periodicals such as Life, Time, and Newsweek, and was later reprinted in poster form. She has held successful exhibitions in Paris, at the Atrium Artist Gallery, Geneva, and at Galarie 21, Zurich.
In 1976, she exhibited her works at the Mexican Museum of Art where the late Spanish painter Antonio Rodriquez, who lived in exile in Mexico, praised her as one of the world’s four greatest painters.
