{icon-p}
Start
{icon-rundum}
Artworks
{icon-kalender}
Calendar
{icon-mehr}
More
DE
Language
Themen:

127
Charles Hossein Zenderoudi, Chucavira, 1985

Chapter: Seelenfenster - Gesture, Movement, Cipher

Information

A new Iranian school
Charles Hossein Zenderoudi is a painter, calligrapher, and sculptor. He is regarded as a pioneer of Iranian modernism and one of the first artists to integrate traditional Persian calligraphic elements into his work. In the 1950s, he studied calligraphy at the College of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran. While still a student, in 1960 he, together with other artists such as Parviz Tanavoli, laid the foundation for a neo-traditional modern art movement that would leave a lasting mark on Iranian contemporary art: the Saqqakhaneh School.

A distinctive, local visual language
The artists of this school combined Western stylistic elements and modern painting techniques with calligraphy, zodiac signs, astrolabes, amulets, and talismans, creating a distinctive local visual language rooted in the history of Persian Shiite art and coffeehouse painting. This style of Persian painting developed from the seventeenth century and reached its peak in the early twentieth century. While Persian miniature painting was finer, more detailed, and often intended for manuscripts, coffeehouse painting was larger in scale, more expressive, and more folk-inspired. This influence is evident in Zenderoudi’s sometimes nearly graphic, often colorful works.

In the spirit of lyrical abstraction
In 1961, he moved to Paris, where the artistic climate was dominated by lyrical abstraction and Art Informel. These movements in gestural painting were closely engaged with calligraphy and often incorporated Chinese and Japanese characters. In Paris, Zenderoudi encountered the works of innovative Western modern artists and influenced them with his own painting. By 1962, he had already received an award at the Venice Biennale.

A shift away from calligraphy
In the 1980s, his painting evolved away from the detailed compositions of his early Saqqakhaneh phase toward a more monumental, flat, and color-intensive aesthetic. As Chucavira (1985) demonstrates, Zenderoudi moved away from calligraphy; his line work becoming freer and almost gestural, often using bold, vibrant colors and strong contrasts between warm earth tones and striking black lines.


Audio Text coming soon

Note: The audio transcription is voiced by an AI.

Charles Hossein Zenderoudi, Chucavira, 1985
Pigments and acrylic on canvas
© Charles Hossein Zenderoudi
Written Art Collection

Further artworks from this exhibition