Lot 61: BAHMAN MOHASSESS (IRANIAN, 1931-2010) Untitled (Still Life) signed with the

BAHMAN MOHASSESS (IRANIAN, 1931-2010) Untitled (Still Life) signed with the artist’s initials ‘B.M.’ (lower left); signed and dated in Farsi, signed and dated ‘Bahman Mohassess 19-IX-51’ (on the reverse) oil on panel 20¿ x 16 1/2 in. (51 x 42cm.) Painted in 1951

PROVENANCE: Lorenzo Trucchi Gallery, Rome. Anon. sale, Aste de Giugno, 13 June 1982, Lot 173. Carmelo Ragusa Collection, Palermo. Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2005. A reclusive artist who mingled with only a few peers, Iranian Modernist Bahman Mohassess constantly fought his own demons through life, art and poetry. Known for his dreamlike compositions of semi-human, semiabstracted fgures, he was passionate about Antiquity with its concepts of fragments, waste, ruins, but he also explored the art of the Renaissance and refected upon the themes of Eros and Pathos throughout his art and career. A dedicated and passionate artist, writer, poet and a celebrated translator of literary works, he trained as an apprentice in the atelier of Seyyed Mohammed Habib Mohammedi in Tehran, Mohassess enrolled at the Fine Art Academy in Tehran in the 1950s, but rarely attended classes, preferring to them the gatherings of the Cockfght art and culture society. A progressive artist at heart, he took part in the avant-garde trends of the Iranian art society early in his life, but later moved to Rome, which would ultimately change his perceptions on life, both in Iran and in Europe forever. When in Rome, Mohassess attended classes at the Fine Art Academy then returned to Tehran temporarily, a time during which he was invited to participate to the Venice, Sao Paulo and Tehran Biennales and directed plays, including Pirandello’s Henry IV at the Goethe Institute and Ghandriz Hall in Tehran. In 1968, Mohassess eventually returned to Rome and lived between his hometown and the Italian capital until his passing in 2010. Unable to integrate in Iran where he communicated his disdain for the Iranian social scene and what he deemed backward thinking, he equally failed to integrate into Italian artistic society, plagued by his Iranian identity and thus began to adopt a hermitic lifestyle that would eventually manifest itself in an overall sentiment of isolation in his works. Inspired equally by both art and poetry, Mohassess was particularly in admiration of Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti and of Giorgio de Chirico, whose metaphysical works, along with the still lives of Giorgio Morandi are a clear reference to the present work. Seemingly innocent in its portrayal of two bottles on a table, Mohassess shuns the idea of perspective and shadow, arranging these items to create an image that propagates forlornness and emptiness. A single pomegranate – a reference to his Iranian heritage where the pomegranate is revered for its blessed properties – lies on a sharp black triangle, which in itself is a reference to the destruction propagated by the oil industry. Characterised by a haunted, brooding mood, his composition generates a portentous silence that creates an enigmatic visual poetry. Vaguely threatening, his sharp contrasts of ligt and shadow emit a mysterious quality to the whole composition, forcing the viewer to question his use of harsh blacks and reds in juxtaposition to simple everyday objects. Through his artistic practice, Mohassess sought to revolutionise artistic trends; rejecting beauty and believing in ugliness – a refection of his inner psyche – he created a realistic and raw Aesthetic that compared to his peers in Iran at the time was extremely cutting edge.