Philosopher and scientist Zakaria Razi’s (865-925) statue in Razi Square in Tehran, was the first full-length statue to be sculpted in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The late Ali Qahari-Kermani, one of Iran’s renowned contemporary sculptors, had the honor to do the work, which was considered innovative at that time.
Kermani, who passed away at the age of 73 on August 25, 1999, was commemorated on his death anniversary.
He played an active role in establishing and disseminating contemporary Iranian sculpture and devoted his life to the art, ISNA reports.
Born in Kerman city in 1926, he had his early education in Kamal-ol-Molk art school. After high school, he started working with Master San’ati as his assistant. Later, he continued his education besides great art masters Ashtiyani, Oliyayi, Bahzad, Zaviyeh, Baqeri and Kareem.
After 25 years of experimenting in the field of sculpting, he revived an old method of statue casting, known as ‘lost mummy’. The method prevailed in ancient Iran and was introduced to the world by the Persians. Today it is used in Europe under the name ‘Paraffin’.
He devoted more than 40 years to teaching the ancient Iranian art and made a number of statues by this unique technique.
The works of the master also include that of Persian poet Abu Saeid Abulkhair in Monirieh Square Tehran, and other eminent personalities Khajou-yi Karmani in Kerman, Ahar Nishapuri in Nishapur, Allameh Dehkhoda in Qazvin and Fakhraddeen Asadi-Gorgani in Gorgan.
His last work was an unfinished statue of Persian poet Sa’di.
Hamid Shans, contemporary sculpture, paying tributes to Kermani and his role in Iranian art said: “His works are an inseparable part of Iranian art history. He had a unique style. The society of artists surely miss him.”
