Hossein Zenderoudi
“The embodiment of a century” One Hundred Years of Visual Arts of Iran
(Part Eight)
Image Sources:
“Pioneers of Iran’s Modern Art, Hossein Zenderoudi,” 2001
Writer and Director: Amir Soghrati
Research Assistant: Najwa Erfani
Motion Graphics: Masoud Talebani
Text Narrator: Amir Soghrati
Logo Design: Mohammad Fadaei
Editing: Mojtaba Fallahi
Project Manager: Harf-e Honar Studio
Producer: Institute for the Development of Contemporary Visual Arts
Supported by the General Directorate of Visual Arts, Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Islamic Republic of Iran
Hossein Zenderoudi was born on December 20, 1937, into a religious family in Tehran, Iran. From his early works, he demonstrated an interest in Iranian and Islamic traditions and culture. In his paintings, Zenderoudi showcases numbers, Iranian calligraphy, Persian script, symbols, talismans, invocations, and traditional Islamic patterns, reminiscent of ancient Iranian art forms such as traditional graphics and stone print patterns.
Despite his parents’ opposition, Zenderoudi attended the Fine Arts High School for Boys in 1957, where he learned the principles of painting from Sohrab Sepehri and engraving from Marco Grigorian. In the same year, the management of the Boys’ Fine Arts High School was under Mehdi Vishkaee, while Hussein Sheikh managed the Girls’ Fine Arts High School. The Iran Ancient Museum was founded in the year of Zenderoudi’s birth, 1937. Zenderoudi visited this museum in 1957, where he became familiar with a calligraphed shirt adorned with ancient Iranian art, which greatly influenced him.
During his time at the Fine Arts High School, he had a period with Behzad Golpayegani and Abbas Mashhadi-Zadeh, fostering a close relationship with Golpayegani, which later turned into a bitter quarrel, with Zenderoudi accusing Golpayegani of copying his works. Although Golpayegani had not copied Zenderoudi’s work, this bitter dispute culminated in Golpayegani burning his own works in their courtyard.
Since 1958, Zenderoudi has been organizing solo exhibitions that receive considerable attention and encouragement. In 1961, coinciding with the end of his three-year period at the high school, he showcased his talent by participating in the second Tehran Painting and Sculpture Biennial. That same year, he created his famous work titled “Who Is This Hossein That the Whole World Is Crazy About?” In 1961, the School of Decorative Arts was established by Houshang Kazemi, with Zenderoudi, along with other artists, being among its first students. After the revolution, the school was renamed the University of Art.
In 1962, he exhibited his works at the Parviz Tanavoli Gallery under the name “Blue Studio,” establishing a close relationship between the two artists. Zenderoudi, along with Parviz Tanavoli, were pioneers of the “Saqakhaneh” movement, aiming to create an Iranian art based on Iranian and Islamic visual motifs. The “Saqakhaneh” artists derived their visual imagery from Islamic and Iranian cultural elements, such as calligraphy, prayer, symbols, and allegories.
In 1963, Karim Emami, for the first time, chose the name “Saqakhaneh” for some of the paintings exhibited at the Third Tehran Painting and Sculpture Biennial. The following year, he published an article titled “New Iranian School,” referring to the Saqakhaneh movement’s works displayed at the Gilgamesh Gallery. Emami, in 1965, wrote an article in the same journal about the dominance of Saqakhaneh, discussing some of the works exhibited at the Fourth Tehran Painting and Sculpture Biennial. Fifteen years after proposing this term, Emami wrote the introduction to the Saqakhaneh exhibition catalog, which opened on October 8, 1977, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran. (Emami’s role in shaping the Saqakhaneh intellectual movement is undeniable, and he mentions in this article that the Saqakhaneh painting began with Zenderoudi’s works. At the Saqakhaneh exhibition, works by Hossein Zenderoudi, Parviz Tanavoli, Sadegh Tabrizi, Jazeh Tabatabai, Mansour Qandriz, Faramarz Pilaram, Masoud Arabshahi, and Nasser Oveysi were displayed.
Before the Saqakhaneh movement, individuals such as Mansoureh Hosseini and Mahmoud Javadi-Pour had also utilized the potential of Persian calligraphy and Iranian aesthetics in their paintings.
For nearly sixty years, his works have been showcased in prestigious museums and galleries worldwide, including the British Museum in London, where artworks by Ardeshir Mohassess, Behjat Sadr, Masoud Arabshahi, Anahita Moeini, Farah Ossuli, Farideh Lashai, Mohammad Ehsai, and Shirin Neshat are also preserved.
Zenderoudi, one of the prominent figures of modern Iranian art, changed his name to Charles Hossein Zenderoudi and has been living and working in Paris for over five decades.
