Veteran Iranian painter and graphic designer Aliasghar Massoumi passed away in Montreal, Canada, on January 23. He was 82.
The artist who was living in Canada for several years, was battling with blood cancer for the past two years, Honaronline reported.
Massoumi’s artistic career comprised of five distinct periods when he took up painting on a variety of subjects by using different styles.
Works on Safavid period (1501-1722), Qajar era (1796-1925), poetic qualities of realism, birds and flowers and hybrid arts, a contemporary art movement in which artists work with frontier areas of science and emerging technologies, are areas in which he created his artworks.
The combination of classical Persian miniature and modern Western graphic arts in Massoumi’s works gave him a unique style.
Born in the western city of Kangavar, Kermanshah Province, Massoumi graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran in graphic arts in 1958. He held several solo, duo and group exhibitions in Iran, China, Italy, France, Canada and the US. Several of his works are kept in Iran at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.
One of his most interesting works in the field of graphics is illustrating the epic ‘Shahnameh’ (Book of Kings) by the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi, published by Amir Kabir Publishing Co. for which he created black and white drawings.
Massoumi held his last exhibition in Iran in 2006 at Dey Gallery.
