Massoud Arabshahi (Iranian, b.1935)

Influenced by ancient bas-reliefsof Sumer, Babylon and ancient Iran, Massoud Arabshahi's work differed from that of the Saqqa-khaneh artists in that his subject matter was drawn from the pre-Islamic period in Iran rather than religious and folk imagery. In his earlier works the figures of ancient rock-cut art would be abstracted and highly patterned, providing a visual analogue with the works of artists as diverse as Qandriz and Tabrizi. Indeed, the linear treatment of form and division of space in the present painting, whilst drawn from different sources, shares with the others a similar visual language. Perhaps for this reason works similar to the present lot were included in the 1977 Saqqakhaneh show.