Bahman Mohassess Biography to Be Unveiled

The biography of renowned contemporary Iranian artist Bahman Mohassess will be unveiled at Shirin Gallery in Tehran on Friday, June 30.

It is the result of long years of research by Arman Khalatbari, a young art researcher, about the life and works of Mohassess, which has been published and co-produced with Shahrooz Nazari, Iman Safaei, Khashayar Fahimi and Shirin Partovi, director of Shirin Gallery, Honaronline reported.

Being the first comprehensive book on Mohassess, it has taken into account all the existing documents and narratives.

Mohassess (1931- 2010), dubbed by some as the “Persian Picasso”, was an Iranian painter, sculptor, translator, and theatre director. His oeuvre comprises paintings, sculptures and collages and felts (textile that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together). He was also a celebrated translator of literary works.

In his youth, Mohassess attended Tehran’s Faculty of Fine Arts. In 1954 he moved to Italy to study in the Fine Art Academy of Rome and returned to Iran in 1964 and participated in Venice, Sao Paolo and Tehran Biennales. He died in Rome in 2010.

In the marketplace, his artworks range from $50,000 up to $1 million. Many of his pieces are in private collections.

In 2012, a documentary titled 'Fifi Howls from Happiness' by Mitra Farahani, shot shortly before the artist's death and finished after his demise, explored the enigma of the artist. The film, in which she interviews Mohasses, presents a "final biography, in his own words and on his terms."