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Art History, ‘National Art’ and Iranian Intellectuals in the 1960s

2014; Routledge; Volume: 41; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13530194.2014.878511

1469-3542

Combiz Moussavi-Aghdam,

Contemporary and Historical Greek Studies

AbstractThe 1960s were undoubtedly the most culturally productive period in the contemporary history of Iran. During these years, artistic trends as well as art historical practices attempted to present the idea of national art, while the intellectual atmosphere was charged with the conflicting ideologies of the Cold War. The Pahlavi state's cultural policies, based on its pro-Western and at the same time nationalist visions, were in contrast with most intellectuals' attitudes towards art, which mainly followed leftist ideologies. Within such an ideologically charged space, the idea of combining Euro-American modernism and traditional views formed the dominant discourse of modern Iranian art. This article maps the interconnections among artists, art historians and cultural custodians in 1960s Iran, and explores the ways in which nationalist, nativist, modernist and communist-Marxist ideologies influenced the artistic trends as well as art historical narratives. After focusing on the ways art history was introduced through Orientalist viewpoints in Iran, the article will shed light on the role of visual artists within the intellectual community of the 1960s. The idea of ‘national art’, epitomised in the movements of Saqqa khanih and Talar-i Iran, will then be analysed. Finally, the article will evaluate these artistic activities within their ideological framework. Notes 1 Hegel, who asserts that with the Persian Empire we first enter continuous history, considers the Persians as the first historical people. See Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, The Philosophy of History (New York: Casimo Classics, 2007 [1899]), p. 173. 2 Robert S. Nelson, ‘The Map of Art History’, The Art Bulletin, 79(1) (March 1997), pp. 28, 31. 3 See Kishwar Rizvi, ‘Art History and the Nation: Arthur Upham Pope and the Discourse on “Persian Art” in the Early Twentieth Century’, Muqarnas: Journal of Islamic Art and Architecture, 24 (2007), pp. 45–65; Kamyar Abdi, ‘Nationalism, Politics, and the Development of Archaeology in Iran’, American Journal of Archaeology, 105(1) (January 2001), pp. 51–76; Talinn Grigor, Building Iran: Modernism, Architecture and National Heritage under the Pahlavi Monarchs (New York: Periscope Publication, 2009). 4 Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis Ackerman, A Survey of Persian Art: From Prehistoric Times to the Present, 6 volumes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1938–1958). 5 Rizvi, ‘Art History and the Nation’, p. 48. 6 Helen Gardner, Art through the Ages: An Introduction to its History and Significance (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1926). 7 H. W. Janson and Dora Jane Janson, History of Art: A Survey of the Major Visual Arts from the Dawn of History to the Present Day (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1962). 8 Nelson, ‘The Map of Art History’, pp. 34–35. 9 Johannes Fabian, Time and the Other: How Anthropology Makes Its Object (New York: Colombia University Press, 1983).10 Daniel Miller, ‘The Necessity of the Primitive in Modern Art’, in Susan Hiller (ed.), The Myth of Primitivism: Perspectives on Art (New York: Routledge, 1991), p. 52.11 Donald Preziosi, The Art of Art History: A Critical Anthology (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 11.12 The Department of Fine Arts was established in 1949 and was later (1964) changed in to the Ministry of Culture and Art. It was in charge of preparing and supporting the development of art and culture and presenting, improving and introducing the ancient heritage and civilisation of the country.13 The Special Bureau (established in 1959) implemented several cultural programmes regarding the queen's interest in modern art and architecture. The Centre for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (Kanun-i parvarish-i fikri-yi kudakan va nawjavanan, established in 1964) and festivals such as Shiraz Art Festival (Jasn-i hunar-i Shiraz) (1967–1978) and Culture and Art Festival (Jashn-e Farhang va Honar) (1968–1978) were the two significant enterprises run by the queen. For a critical analysis of these activities, see Jalal Sattari, Dar bi-dawlati-yi farhang [The Unfortunateness of Culture] (Tehran: Nashr-e Markaz, 1385 [2006]).14 Unlike the Beaux Arts style, whose curricula were mainly based on Greco-Roman antiquities and the principles of classical forms, Art Deco was an eclectic design style in the early to mid-twentieth century that aimed to merge traditional craft motifs and industrial imagery and materials. Art Deco's modernist agenda is comparable with the German Bauhaus School, which became the reference point for education at the Faculty of Fine Arts in the late 1960s.15 Kamal-ol-Molk (1848–1940) was the most famous painter of nineteenth century Iran. Influenced by the Post-Renaissance European painting, he developed a naturalistic style, which was different from older modes of representation in miniatures. Kamal-ol-Molk's style was dominant among most Iranian artists till the mid-twentieth century.16 Fa'eqeh Boqrati, ‘Mohsen Vaziri-Moqaddam va Hanibal Alkhas’, Herfeh: Honarmand, 27 (2008–2009), pp. 84–85. Boqrati does not identify members of the first group. The most prominent artists of this trend are the founders of Talar-e Iran, i.e. Ru'in Pakbaz and Mohammad-Reza Jawdat.17 Ervand Abrahamian, A History of Modern Iran (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008), p. 138.18 ‘Westoxification’ (also translated as ‘westification’ and ‘occidentosis’, contrary to westernisation) was the concept coined by Ahmad Fardid and popularised by Jalal Al-i Ahmad's influential book Gharbzadegi (1962) [Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Plagued by the West (Gharbzadegi), translated by Paul Sprachman (Delmor, New York: Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University, 1982)]. After the Islamic revolution in 1979, the concept became one of the core ideological discourses of the new regime.19 Mehrzad Borujirdi, Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph of Nativism (New York: Syracuse University Press, 1996), pp. 43–44, 176–177.20 Other prominent members of this current in the 1960s and 1970s were Dariush Shayegan and Ehsan Naraqi.21 Edward W. Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage Books, 1978).22 In the late 1970s, when all modernist currents, which sought national art while holding to formalism, exhausted the demonstration of socio-political subjects popularised among some artists and continued to be dominant after the revolution. The most famous exhibition of this kind was Nasrollah Moslemian's at Tehran University (Naqsh Gallery) in 1977.23 This categorisation is based on that of Borujirdi, Iranian Intellectuals and the West, pp. 43–44.24 Pakbaz avoids using the terms ‘modernism’ and ‘modernist’ in the Iranian context, as he believes these artists failed to understand the principles of modernist art and arbitrarily imitated modern styles without considering their theoretical and socio-cultural grounds.25 Ru'in Pakbaz, ‘Dar jostiju-yi hoviyat’ [Seeking Identity], Herfeh: Honarmand, 18 (Winter 1385 [2007]), p. 129.26 Utilising Kant's idea of ‘disinterested’ aesthetic pleasure, the prominent American critic Clement Greenberg (1909–1994) became the advocate of American abstract expressionism against socialist-realism during the Cold War. He characterised modernist painting as a historical project that seeks to achieve visual purity, i.e. an art with no sign of representative elements, independent from literary and theatrical effects. Formalists' ideas on art are prevalent in the contemporary art history of Iran, without them bring thoroughly read. See Clement Greenberg, ‘Modernist Painting’ in Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (eds), Art in Theory (1900–1990) (Oxford: Blackwell Publication, 1999), pp. 754–760.27 Apart from Ghirshman's book L'Iran des origines à l'islam (1951), translated in 1956 [Roman Ghirshman, Iran: az Aghaz ta Eslam, tr. Mohammad Mo'ein (Tehran: Bongah-e Tarjomeh va Nashr-e Ketab, 1344 [1965])], neither of these books was translated at the time.28 As the modernist artist and tutor Muhsin Vaziri Muqaddam notes, tendencies towards social themes as well as quasi-impressionistic brushing techniques could be counted as the influence of Russian social-realism in the 1940s. See Hassan Murizi-Nedzad, ‘Mohsen Vaziri-Muqaddam’, Tandis, 71 (April 2006), pp. 4–7.29Ziba'ei-Shenasi [Aesthetics] (Tehran: Amir-Kabir, 1331 [1952]); Ali-Naqi Vaziri, Ziba'ei-Shenasi dar Honar va Tabi'at [Aesthetics in Art and Nature] (Tehran:Tehran: Tehran University Press, 1329 [1950]).30 Four issues of Fasli Dar Honar was published in 1970–71 (Tehran: Talar-e Qandrir); Norbert Lynton et al. Az Ampressionism ta Honar-e Abstreh [from Impressionism to Abstract Art], tr. Ru'in Pakbaz et al. (Tehran: Talar-e Qandriz, 1350 [1971]); Ru'in Pakbaz, Barresi-e Honari va Ejtema'ei-e Nehzat-e Ampressionism [A Study on Social and Aesthetic Aspects of Impressionism] (Tehran: Talar-e Qandriz, 1351 [1972]).31 Ali-Naqi Vaziri, Tarikh-e Omoumi-e Honarha-ie Mosavvar [General history of Visual Arts] (Tehran: Tehran University Press, 1346 [1967]); Ehsan Yarshater, Naqqashi-e Novin [Modern Painting] (Tehran: Amir-Kabir, 1345 [1966]).32 Among the most influential pre-revolutionary publications is Bongah-i tarjomih va nashr-i (The Agency of Book Translation and Publication), which was founded by Ehsan Yarshater and appeared under the shah's name in 1954. This publication translated many key works from classical to modern authors of the world and edited some of the main historical texts of Iran. The Institute of Franklin Publication, founded by Homayun San'atizadih in 1953, was also important in the distribution of literary and philosophical works with high standards in pocket books.33 Amir-Hossein Aryanpour, Jame'eh Shenasi-e Honar [The Sociology of Art] (Tehran: Tehran University Press, 1354 [1975]).34 There were a few non-mainstream artists in this period who illustrated socio-political issues in their work, such as Parviz Habibpur, Shahab Musavizadih and Reza Olya. Caricaturists Kiumars Kiasat, Ardeshir Muhassis and Dariush Radpur also presented the social conflicts of 1960s and 1970s Iran. Thanks to artist and tutor Ma'sumih Mozaffari who brought these names to my attention.35 Shahrouz Nazari, ‘The Art of Revolution: Westification Wasn't a Genuine Idea (A Conversation between Ne'mat Laleh'ei and Hanibal Alkhas)’, Tandis, 142 (February 2008), p. 8.36 Interview with Ru'in Pakbaz in Tehran, 10 May 2013.37 I found C.P. Snow's notion of the two cultures (first presented as a lecture in 1959) appropriate to use here in the Iranian context. Snow, nevertheless, coined this expression to describe the gap between the worlds of science and humanities.38 Marcos Grigorian, The First Tehran Biennial Catalogue, 1958. This translated section is taken from Hamid Keshmirshekan, ‘Modern Contemporary Iranian Art: Developments and Challenges’, in Hossein Amirsadeqi (ed.), Different Sames (London: Thames and Hudson, 2009), p. 16.39 Keshmirshekan, ‘Modern Contemporary Iranian Art’, p. 16.40 For a detailed description of the Saqqa khanih School's activities, formation and decline, see Hamid Keshmirshekan, ‘Neo-Traditionalism and Modern Iranian Painting: The Saqqa khanih School in the 1960s’, Iranian Studies, 38(4) (December 2005).41 For the position of Saqqa khanih art in the West, see Shiva Balaghi and Lynn Gumpert (eds), Picturing Iran: Art, Society and Revolution (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2002), pp. 21–37, 39–88.42 The Talar was renamed after Qandriz, who tragically died in a car accident in 1965.43 Apart from these three main members, the group included nine other artists in the beginning: the painters Pilaram, Tabrizi, Arabshahi, Hadi Hizarih'ei, Sirus Maalek and Parviz Mahallati, and the graphic artists Farshid Mesqali, Morteza Momaiyez and Qobad Shiva. Qandriz and the first three painters above were also identified as Saqqa khanih artists, showing the fluidity of borders among art groups at the time.44 Some of the most notable events in the gallery were the first sessions of the Writers' Association of Iran (Kanun-i nivisandigan Iran), one of the most influential intellectual institutions, in 1968. The gallery also became a safe meeting place for members of different guerrilla forces that proliferated during the 1960s, a fact the main members of the gallery were not aware of, as Pakbaz declared in my interview with him.45 In my interview with him, Pakbaz regretfully asserted that they failed to introduce the visual values of exhibited artworks to their literary fellows while providing the venue for intellectual gatherings. Conversely, the socio-philosophical debates among writers and cultural activists were rarely appealing to painters and sculptors.46 Mohammad San'ati (interviewed by Sirus 'Alinezhad), Darbareh-yi rowshanfikri-yi daheh-yi [On the Intellectuals of the 1960s], Bokhara, 71 (2009), pp. 238–239.47 Nazanin Shahidi (interviewer), Tarikh-i honar va konuni-yi an dar Iran az manzar-i ahl-i nazar [Art Experts' Viewpoints on Art History and Its Current Situation in Iran], Golestan-i Honar, 1 (2005), p. 18.48 See ‘A Conversation with Ahmad Aali’, Kilk-i Farhang va Honar, 80 (October–February 1996), p. 487.49 San'ati, ‘On the Intellectuals of the 1960s’, p. 246.50 Grigor, Building Iran, p. 184.51 For the rivalry between the queen and the Ministry of Culture, see Iman Afsarian, ‘Biennials of Power’ [Bienal-i qodrat], Jame'eh-Shenasi-yi Honar va Adabiat, 2 (2009), p. 175.52 The following part, reflecting Aryasp Dadbeh's view, comes from my interview with him in Tehran on 1 May 2013. Thanks to my brother Keivan Moussavi-Aghdam for his cooperation and assistance in the interview process.53 Ibid.54 For the ethnographic identity of Iranian artists on the art scene today, see Combiz Moussavi-Aghdam and Azar Mahmoudian, ‘The Artist-Ethnographer in Contemporary Iranian Art’, Artommorow, 6 (2012), pp. 114–118.