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Figure 5: Akbar Behkalam, They expected a different life when the Revolution began, Persepolis series, oil painting on canvas, 1979. The Persepolis series is a mixture of Realism, Expressionism as well as Persian miniatures, with the presence of motifs inspired from engraved on the walls of Takht-e-Jamshid which was internationally well- known thanks to the Shiraz Festival of Arts. Behkalam placed these motifs together with contemporary images from the Shah’s era, for example, figures of torturing and murdering among parades of ancient Persian soldiers. The title and these motifs were selected very cleverly to depict the paradox of the glory of the great Persian people, the image that Shah tried to show to the world by celebrating 2500th year of the foundation of imperial of Iran, and human rights violations that had been taking place by the shah’s government. The second major political event took place after the 1953 Coup was the White Revolution (1963) of the King and the People (Enqelab-e Shah o Mardom) which was the origin of a series of fundamental socio- political, socio-economic as well as_cultural-artistic reforms in Iran. Although these fast-pacing changes that contributed towards modernization of the country affected Iranian society by providing social signs of progress and freedoms, the lack of political openness and democracy at the same time, eventually led to downfall of the Shah’s regime.

Figure 5 Akbar Behkalam, They expected a different life when the Revolution began, Persepolis series, oil painting on canvas, 1979. The Persepolis series is a mixture of Realism, Expressionism as well as Persian miniatures, with the presence of motifs inspired from engraved on the walls of Takht-e-Jamshid which was internationally well- known thanks to the Shiraz Festival of Arts. Behkalam placed these motifs together with contemporary images from the Shah’s era, for example, figures of torturing and murdering among parades of ancient Persian soldiers. The title and these motifs were selected very cleverly to depict the paradox of the glory of the great Persian people, the image that Shah tried to show to the world by celebrating 2500th year of the foundation of imperial of Iran, and human rights violations that had been taking place by the shah’s government. The second major political event took place after the 1953 Coup was the White Revolution (1963) of the King and the People (Enqelab-e Shah o Mardom) which was the origin of a series of fundamental socio- political, socio-economic as well as_cultural-artistic reforms in Iran. Although these fast-pacing changes that contributed towards modernization of the country affected Iranian society by providing social signs of progress and freedoms, the lack of political openness and democracy at the same time, eventually led to downfall of the Shah’s regime.

Related Figures (27)

Figure 1: Sia Armajani, Sacco and Vanzetti Reading Room, installation, Kunsthalle Basel and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 1988. As audiences of the work, who know the story of Sacco and Vanzetti, we can say that the artist has dedicated his work to Sacco and Vanzetti as a tribute to his protest comrades who were victims of prejudice, due to their political ideas. People whose destiny was similar to that of the artist, those who escaped from Iran, or arrested and sentenced to prison or death. The choice of a reading room to stage the installation was very intellectual and conveyed the artist's message clearly that is the only way to reach absolute truth about thoughts and actions of characters like Sacco and Vanzetti is through wisdom. You probably wonder why Armajani has chosen two Italian Anarchists for his work instead of two Iranian protests? The answer is hat these two characters are famous in contemporary political history. They are the symbols of people who are judged and prejudiced discriminately. If Armajani had cherished two lesser-known Iranian characters, hose who were executed during post-coup years, in his work, he would not have been able to communicate with international audiences anywhere, anytime Zabolinezhad 2018).
Figure 1: Sia Armajani, Sacco and Vanzetti Reading Room, installation, Kunsthalle Basel and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 1988. As audiences of the work, who know the story of Sacco and Vanzetti, we can say that the artist has dedicated his work to Sacco and Vanzetti as a tribute to his protest comrades who were victims of prejudice, due to their political ideas. People whose destiny was similar to that of the artist, those who escaped from Iran, or arrested and sentenced to prison or death. The choice of a reading room to stage the installation was very intellectual and conveyed the artist's message clearly that is the only way to reach absolute truth about thoughts and actions of characters like Sacco and Vanzetti is through wisdom. You probably wonder why Armajani has chosen two Italian Anarchists for his work instead of two Iranian protests? The answer is hat these two characters are famous in contemporary political history. They are the symbols of people who are judged and prejudiced discriminately. If Armajani had cherished two lesser-known Iranian characters, hose who were executed during post-coup years, in his work, he would not have been able to communicate with international audiences anywhere, anytime Zabolinezhad 2018).
Figure 2: Photo of Empress Farah and Andy Warhol, standing in front of Warhol’s work, which was torn apart by the revolutionaries during in 1979, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, 1977. Another cultural annual ceremony held by the initiative of Empress from 1967 to 1977 in Perspolis, was the International Festival of Arts (Persian: Jit 5 ots), Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Empire of Achaemenid is near Shiraz, and the ruins of the great royal city called Takht-e-Jamshid (in Persian: awies 35) Or the Throne of Jamshid was an ideal location to perform the festival’s programs included dance, drama, showing film and music. Musicians, Jie 8 Os), Persepolis, the capital of the Persian
Figure 2: Photo of Empress Farah and Andy Warhol, standing in front of Warhol’s work, which was torn apart by the revolutionaries during in 1979, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, 1977. Another cultural annual ceremony held by the initiative of Empress from 1967 to 1977 in Perspolis, was the International Festival of Arts (Persian: Jit 5 ots), Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Empire of Achaemenid is near Shiraz, and the ruins of the great royal city called Takht-e-Jamshid (in Persian: awies 35) Or the Throne of Jamshid was an ideal location to perform the festival’s programs included dance, drama, showing film and music. Musicians, Jie 8 Os), Persepolis, the capital of the Persian
Figure 3: Ghobad Shiva, Poster of the 12th Shiraz Festival of Arts, from 3 to 12 September 1978, canceled because of the great strikes of the revolutionaries.
Figure 3: Ghobad Shiva, Poster of the 12th Shiraz Festival of Arts, from 3 to 12 September 1978, canceled because of the great strikes of the revolutionaries.
Figure 4: Akbar Behkalam, Persepolis |, Perspolis series, oil painting on canvas, 1977. In 1971, the Shah organized an_ elaborate propaganda event to celebrate 2500 years of the Iranian monarchy in the ruins of Takht-e-Jamshid located in Persepolis, the ancient capital of Persian civilization. The aim of this was to gain respect for his regime among the international community by referring back to the ancient Persian traditions. A few years later, Akbar Behkalam, painter and sculptor who exiled to Germany in 1976 because of criticism of the regime, introduced himself as a protest artist witha series of paintings titled Persepolis (1976-1979). In Behkalam’s paintings, the contradiction between the attempt of Shah to present Iranian as “a cultural people” and the murder of those who opposed his regime becomes blatantly apparent.
Figure 4: Akbar Behkalam, Persepolis |, Perspolis series, oil painting on canvas, 1977. In 1971, the Shah organized an_ elaborate propaganda event to celebrate 2500 years of the Iranian monarchy in the ruins of Takht-e-Jamshid located in Persepolis, the ancient capital of Persian civilization. The aim of this was to gain respect for his regime among the international community by referring back to the ancient Persian traditions. A few years later, Akbar Behkalam, painter and sculptor who exiled to Germany in 1976 because of criticism of the regime, introduced himself as a protest artist witha series of paintings titled Persepolis (1976-1979). In Behkalam’s paintings, the contradiction between the attempt of Shah to present Iranian as “a cultural people” and the murder of those who opposed his regime becomes blatantly apparent.
Figure 7: Posters created by the protest artists, from 1953 Coup to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the exhibition UNITED HISTORY Séquences du moderne en Iran de 1960 a nos jours, the Socialist Realism School, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of the city of Paris, July 2014. The following photos were taken by the first authors during her visit from the exhibition of Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Paris, July 2014, tiled UNITED HISTORY Séquences du moderne en Iran de 1960 a nos jours, where the organizers displayed some practices of modernists and contemporaries Iranian artists of different generations.
Figure 7: Posters created by the protest artists, from 1953 Coup to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the exhibition UNITED HISTORY Séquences du moderne en Iran de 1960 a nos jours, the Socialist Realism School, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of the city of Paris, July 2014. The following photos were taken by the first authors during her visit from the exhibition of Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Paris, July 2014, tiled UNITED HISTORY Séquences du moderne en Iran de 1960 a nos jours, where the organizers displayed some practices of modernists and contemporaries Iranian artists of different generations.
Figure 6: Famous propagandist photo of the Shah, published in newspapers at the time of the White Revolution, 1963. predominant topic of their works was usually the posters. Their works also were strongly under the influence of the Socialist Realism School, an official style in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). It depicts the communist ideologies such as encouraging people to fight against Capitalism, corrupted government of the Shah who was the symbol of depravity. Some visual artists portrayed the USSR as a Utopia where the citizens’ demands are perfectly satisfied.
Figure 6: Famous propagandist photo of the Shah, published in newspapers at the time of the White Revolution, 1963. predominant topic of their works was usually the posters. Their works also were strongly under the influence of the Socialist Realism School, an official style in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). It depicts the communist ideologies such as encouraging people to fight against Capitalism, corrupted government of the Shah who was the symbol of depravity. Some visual artists portrayed the USSR as a Utopia where the citizens’ demands are perfectly satisfied.
Figure 8: Posters created by the protest artists, from 1953 Coup to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the exhibition UNITED HISTORY Séquences du moderne en Iran de 1960 a nos jours, the Socialist Realism School, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of the city of Paris, July 2014. They also dedicated a hall to propaganda practices with political subjects, made by protest artists against the Pahlavi regime (See Figure 7-9).
Figure 8: Posters created by the protest artists, from 1953 Coup to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the exhibition UNITED HISTORY Séquences du moderne en Iran de 1960 a nos jours, the Socialist Realism School, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of the city of Paris, July 2014. They also dedicated a hall to propaganda practices with political subjects, made by protest artists against the Pahlavi regime (See Figure 7-9).
Figure 9: Kourosh Shishegaran, a poster displayed in Figure 7, in the upper right, there is a picture of Mossadegh wearing a forehead of a flag of Iran without the acronym of the Pahlavi. There is also a text next to the picture, a part of a famous poem, saying “| am a servant of wisdom man (the elderly man of the Moghs) who made me free from ignorance.”
Figure 9: Kourosh Shishegaran, a poster displayed in Figure 7, in the upper right, there is a picture of Mossadegh wearing a forehead of a flag of Iran without the acronym of the Pahlavi. There is also a text next to the picture, a part of a famous poem, saying “| am a servant of wisdom man (the elderly man of the Moghs) who made me free from ignorance.”
Figure 11: Kaveh Golestan, nameless, from the Labor series, photo, 1975-77. Figure 10: Kaveh Golestan, nameless, from the series of the Prostitutes, photo, 1975-77.
Figure 11: Kaveh Golestan, nameless, from the Labor series, photo, 1975-77. Figure 10: Kaveh Golestan, nameless, from the series of the Prostitutes, photo, 1975-77.
Figure 12: Kaveh Golestan, nameless, from the Mental handicap series, photo, 1975-77.
Figure 12: Kaveh Golestan, nameless, from the Mental handicap series, photo, 1975-77.
Figure 14: Bahman Mohassess, nameless, oil painting on canvas and collage of fish motifs, Rome, 2010. Figure 13: Bahman Mohassess, nameless, oil painting on canvas, Museum of Contemporary Arts in Tehran? 1974. satirist, cartoonist, and painter, who played a major role in the development of satirical cartoons in Iran, resided in New York after the Revolution. He believed that despite rapid changes in the appearance of Iranian society, taken place after Pahlavi’s modernization reforms, it has eventually remained radical and bonded to its well-institutionalized traditions and stated his attitudes by his works. He created satirical drawings of Iran’s historical characters such as the shahs of Qajar, the shah and famous people, in addition to the daily life of the Iranians in Qajar dynasty trying to say that, a few
Figure 14: Bahman Mohassess, nameless, oil painting on canvas and collage of fish motifs, Rome, 2010. Figure 13: Bahman Mohassess, nameless, oil painting on canvas, Museum of Contemporary Arts in Tehran? 1974. satirist, cartoonist, and painter, who played a major role in the development of satirical cartoons in Iran, resided in New York after the Revolution. He believed that despite rapid changes in the appearance of Iranian society, taken place after Pahlavi’s modernization reforms, it has eventually remained radical and bonded to its well-institutionalized traditions and stated his attitudes by his works. He created satirical drawings of Iran’s historical characters such as the shahs of Qajar, the shah and famous people, in addition to the daily life of the Iranians in Qajar dynasty trying to say that, a few
Figure 15: Ardeshir Mohassess, The King and |, from the Series of life in Iran, drawing on paper, Library of Congress, United States, 1978. essential socio-political changes have occurred and main characteristics of the Pahlavi regime are identical to that of Qajars. Drawing upon Persian folk art, miniatures, and 19th-century lithographic illustrations, which were practiced after the introduction of lithography print to Iran in the 1850s, Ardeshir produced an extraordinary volume of work portraying current events and everyday life of people. He often combined lithographic illustrations of Sah-nama, as well as religious lore and literary books, and complemented them by his unique sense of humor. His illustrations, arguably the best in the style, were often created for editorial pages of newspapers and periodicals. Influenced by multiple sources they were minutely detailed, heavily hatched, and crosshatched. In 1976 Mohassess traveled to New York City again where he developed a special technique for articulating subjects like human rights and socio-political freedom in the different countries as well as Iran by a few strokes of lines in ink or by pencil in a satirical manner. One can never change anything by art, Mohassess said in 1973. The only thing one can say is that artists in each period of history leave a record so that people in the future will know about their time. Just like his older brother, Ardeshir preferred to leave Iran because of the extreme censorship impose by the secret police of the regime, SAVAK, to live in New York for his remaining years.
Figure 15: Ardeshir Mohassess, The King and |, from the Series of life in Iran, drawing on paper, Library of Congress, United States, 1978. essential socio-political changes have occurred and main characteristics of the Pahlavi regime are identical to that of Qajars. Drawing upon Persian folk art, miniatures, and 19th-century lithographic illustrations, which were practiced after the introduction of lithography print to Iran in the 1850s, Ardeshir produced an extraordinary volume of work portraying current events and everyday life of people. He often combined lithographic illustrations of Sah-nama, as well as religious lore and literary books, and complemented them by his unique sense of humor. His illustrations, arguably the best in the style, were often created for editorial pages of newspapers and periodicals. Influenced by multiple sources they were minutely detailed, heavily hatched, and crosshatched. In 1976 Mohassess traveled to New York City again where he developed a special technique for articulating subjects like human rights and socio-political freedom in the different countries as well as Iran by a few strokes of lines in ink or by pencil in a satirical manner. One can never change anything by art, Mohassess said in 1973. The only thing one can say is that artists in each period of history leave a record so that people in the future will know about their time. Just like his older brother, Ardeshir preferred to leave Iran because of the extreme censorship impose by the secret police of the regime, SAVAK, to live in New York for his remaining years.
Figure 16: Ardeshir Mohassess, The men bent in prayer to God and the government airplanes arrived, drawing on paper, Library of Congress, United States, 1978.
Figure 16: Ardeshir Mohassess, The men bent in prayer to God and the government airplanes arrived, drawing on paper, Library of Congress, United States, 1978.
Figure 18: Frida Kahlo, The wounded deer, painting, 1946. Figure 17: Bijan Jazani, Siyahkal, painting, 1971. The calm gestures of gazelles and the use of living colors in the painting titled Life, confirms the fact that the world of Jazani was not black and depressing. He was waiting for a new time to come in the hope that the Pahlavi regime would fall soon (See Figure 20).
Figure 18: Frida Kahlo, The wounded deer, painting, 1946. Figure 17: Bijan Jazani, Siyahkal, painting, 1971. The calm gestures of gazelles and the use of living colors in the painting titled Life, confirms the fact that the world of Jazani was not black and depressing. He was waiting for a new time to come in the hope that the Pahlavi regime would fall soon (See Figure 20).
stunningly, there are a few nuances. For example, the gazelle in Frida Kahlo’s painting has gestures that differ from the aggressive deer in the Siyahkal painting.
stunningly, there are a few nuances. For example, the gazelle in Frida Kahlo’s painting has gestures that differ from the aggressive deer in the Siyahkal painting.
Figure 19: Bijan Jazani, Prisoner, painting, 1971. cell as a womb that surrounds him. He shows himself as a fetus, squatted but sensible at the same time, waiting for an upcoming destiny that is becoming free from this dense uterus. A hope that unfortunately never came true for him.
Figure 19: Bijan Jazani, Prisoner, painting, 1971. cell as a womb that surrounds him. He shows himself as a fetus, squatted but sensible at the same time, waiting for an upcoming destiny that is becoming free from this dense uterus. A hope that unfortunately never came true for him.
Figure 20: Bijan Jazani, Life, painting, date? At that time, there was also a new generation of artists who were ideologically close to Islamic groups
Figure 20: Bijan Jazani, Life, painting, date? At that time, there was also a new generation of artists who were ideologically close to Islamic groups
Figure 22: Bahram Dabiri, An Illustration of the Islamic Revolution, Oil paintiog on canvas, 140 X 700 cm, 1980. Figure 21: Hasan ISMA’ILZADAH, The Shah’s Exile and Imam Khomeini’s Return, Oil painting on canvas, 1979.
Figure 22: Bahram Dabiri, An Illustration of the Islamic Revolution, Oil paintiog on canvas, 140 X 700 cm, 1980. Figure 21: Hasan ISMA’ILZADAH, The Shah’s Exile and Imam Khomeini’s Return, Oil painting on canvas, 1979.
that were obeying Imam Khomeini, their religious and political leader,were fighting against the regime. This intellectual dependence was displayed, by a Combination of the Realism and Expressionism styles, in their artworks that emphasized on the concept of revolution of Muslim people in Iran. This new strong artistic movement promotes in-depth the ideology of Political Islam and succeeded to unite all separate groups under the command of Imam Khomeini to combat the regime (See Figures 21-25).
that were obeying Imam Khomeini, their religious and political leader,were fighting against the regime. This intellectual dependence was displayed, by a Combination of the Realism and Expressionism styles, in their artworks that emphasized on the concept of revolution of Muslim people in Iran. This new strong artistic movement promotes in-depth the ideology of Political Islam and succeeded to unite all separate groups under the command of Imam Khomeini to combat the regime (See Figures 21-25).
Figure 25: Hossein Khosrowjerdi, Hay Ali Al-Falah, Oil painting on canvas, 1978. Figure 24: Ayoub Emdadiyan, Sapling of Freedom Oil painting on canvas, 1976.
Figure 25: Hossein Khosrowjerdi, Hay Ali Al-Falah, Oil painting on canvas, 1978. Figure 24: Ayoub Emdadiyan, Sapling of Freedom Oil painting on canvas, 1976.
Figure 23: Kazem Chalipa, Black Friday, Oil painting on canvas, 1979.
Figure 23: Kazem Chalipa, Black Friday, Oil painting on canvas, 1979.
Figure 28: Nosratollah Moslemian, Immigration, Oil painting on canvas, 1977. Figure 27: Nosratollah Moslemian, The strike of the workers of the Petroleum Company, Oil painting on canvas, 1979.
Figure 28: Nosratollah Moslemian, Immigration, Oil painting on canvas, 1977. Figure 27: Nosratollah Moslemian, The strike of the workers of the Petroleum Company, Oil painting on canvas, 1979.
Figure 26: Nosratollah Moslemian, Farmer, Oil painting on canvas, 1978.
Figure 26: Nosratollah Moslemian, Farmer, Oil painting on canvas, 1978.
layers of pale colors to show the miserable populace who stuck in deplorable conditions and will never survive (See Figures 26-28). CONCLUSION
layers of pale colors to show the miserable populace who stuck in deplorable conditions and will never survive (See Figures 26-28). CONCLUSION
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