Parviz Tanavoli (Iranian, b. 1937)

Tanavoli is one of the founders of the Saqqakhaneh School, a neo-traditionalist movement that was recognized as the first school of Iranian modern art, with its associated painters and sculptors integrating components from Iranian folk art into their creations. Considered one of Iran’s leading artists, Tanavoli is best known for his bronze sculptures that are inspired by the art of calligraphy and Iranian culture.

A sculptor, painter, scholar and art collector, Tanavoli’s work is based on a mixture of Islamic architecture and Persian poetry; and these motifs are palpable in the present lots. These works, entitled Heech, are part of a grand series created by Tanavoli, which he began in the early 1960’s. The word heech in Farsi means ‘nothing’. Originally, the artist created the work as a rejection to the Saqqakhaneh School, which he had pioneered. He did this because he felt the School had begun losing its meaning and its purity and had become overly commercialized. The sculptures are deeply rooted in the transcendent writings of renowned Persian poet, Rumi

In 1971 he was commissioned by the then queen of Iran to create a sculpture for her. Although this piece was highly questioned by the shah, Tanavoli stuck by his work and has made over one hundred versions of it since. Christie's is pleased two present three works from his Heech series, including this present one created in bronze, lot 58, in bright pink fiberglass, and lot 61, The Wall and the Heech. As the artist says, “Heech is the ultimate last word. Heech is not only nothing; it is everything. Everything at the end becomes nothing.” (In conversation with Leah Sandals, 2016)