Jafar Rouhbakhsh (Iranian, 1940-1966)

Since his childhood, Rouhbakhsh had shown interest in art, receiving his high school diploma from the art academy and going on to attend the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran where he studied decorative painting and interior design at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. At a young age, the artist came across many miniature paintings, particular to Iranian art history, and since then the motifs apparent in these miniatures became noticeable in the artist’s work.

In this piece, Untitled, we can see how Rouhbakhsh exploits decorative images and rescinds any figurative attachment in order to solely express essential values. The work emanates an exceptional influence embodied in harmonious colours, including a beautiful cerulean blue, henna red, and more earthy tones such as beige, all of which guide us through an indescribable world of spirituality. Through written text, symbolic references, and different themes, we see a delicate mass of diverse patterns, which bestow to the work a certain luminosity.