Sohrab Sepehri

Private collection, Barcelona (purchased directly from the artist by the grandmother of the present owner circa 1974)

This work is in good condition. Some hairline marks on the lower center section and upper center right can be noticed, these are inherent to the artist's creative process. Upon close inspection, fives micro paint losses are apparent to the center of the painting. Some minor abrasions to the four corners of the work. A discreet patch of watermarks to the upper left section of the painting, this is inherent to the artist choice of medium and creative process. No apparent sign of restoration under the ultraviolet light. The colours in the catalogue illustration are accurate, with the overall tonality being softer in the original work.
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Painted circa 1974. 

Sohrab Sepehri is not only a poet whose heritage has been celebrated worldwide, but is also undoubtedly a key figure in modern Iranian art, who inspired a generation of artists after him. His compositions were greatly influenced by Western painting, Japanese poetry and art as well as Buddhism, Taoism and Zen philosophy.

In 1965 he began his famous Tree-Trunk series, which revealed his wide ranging cultural and aesthetic influences; integral to this series is the impact of his earlier abstract compositions. Sepehri turned to abstract painting, creating fresh works with the aid of geometrical figures in which squares are increasingly used. But this period was transient, resulting in a scarce number of works executed in this manner.

Inspired by the rational yet intangible aura developed in his abstract works, he recreated the realistic tones explored in these works when depicting his trees and branches; details can be observed in the various pigments and washes evident in the trunks.

Each piece of Sepehri's Abstract series includes five to eight colour lines, a restriction the artist impose on himself, perhaps a personal challenge. Sepehri's artistry is exemplified via his creation of bare lucid tones. The present work is representative of his employment of defined forms using controlled washes of flat colour, confronting the observer with an intellectual experience through the organisation of the pictorial plane. A reflective, philosophical and passionate painter, Sepehri would experiment with various styles, pursuing his own line of thought and maintaining his own style.

His oeuvre has had a lasting influence on generations of artists in Iran and abroad especially in Japan where the artist spent some time learning traditional wood carving techniques. Sepehri's abstract works are amongst his most distinctive and are limited in quantity, being mostly kept in public institutions, including the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, The Fine Arts Museum at the Saad Abad Complex and the Niavaran Cultural Center. Sepehri’s untimely death ended the life of an inspirational artist and poet who had a visionary and distinctive style.