Lot 157: Mansoureh Hosseini (Iranian, b. 1926)

Mansoureh Hosseini (Iranian, b. 1926)
Untitled
signed and dated 'Mansoureh 64' (lower left)
oil on canvas
70¼ x 35 1/8in. (178.5 x 89.5cm.)
Painted in 1964

Ruyin Pakbaz, Pioneers of Modern Iranian Art: Mansoureh Hosseini, Tehran, 2004 (illustrated in colour, p. 61)

Mansoureh Hosseini's abstract compositions include certain traditional Iranian visual elements, which recall the rythmic curves of calligraphy. Hosseini's works are somewhat more painterly than those of other Iranian artists -they are highly textured, built up by layer upon layer of thick impasto and executed in carefully matched harmonious colours.
In the late 1950s, Mansoureh Hosseini showed a growing fascination in using simple shapes and curves and angular lines that were faintly similar to Kufic elements in her abstract pictures. By the early 1960s, she was preoccupied with the art and tradition of calligraphy depicting Kufic elements in her works, which were becoming increasingly adhered to the time tendency of neo-traditionalism. Hence, she is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the style. About the same time she wrote:
'What I have obtained from Kufic script is not the exact script or even imitationI have wanted the movement, repetition, silence and composition and the colours framing the script to show a tranquility, or run away in fright a terrifying revelation; to enter the domain of darkness and disappear from sight, or swim in an hazy atmosphere of lights; to depict a moment of prayer or that of a sad dance. I am not an abstract painter. I have only attempted to change my creatures.'