Mansour Qandriz (Iranian, 1935-1965)

One of the pioneers of Saqqa-khaneh art, Mansour Qandriz, died tragically in a car accident in 1965 when still young. As a result his surviving works are extremely rare.

Qandriz's paintings of the 1960s were inspired by mystic symbols such as 'alams and other ornaments, clearly related to those in the works of his contemporaries Zenderoudi and Pilaram. However, unlike other artists he did not employ calligraphy in his paintings, instead he imbued them with a raw primitivism, and linking these symbols from the Islamic period of Iran to its earlier art. The central motif in several of his paintings resembles the "Tree of Life" in ancient Persian cultures, such as the 3000 year-old silvered metal works of Amlash.

Qandriz's use of metallic paint and the way in which he restricted his use of colour makes his paintings evocative of two further forms of Iranian folk art, the talismanic metal plate, engraved with patterns and symbols, and the strong abstracted symbolic motifs on tribal rugs and carpets.