Mohsen Vaziri Moghaddam played a significant role in advancing contemporary art in Iran. He was born on May 26, 1924, in Tehran.
Mohsen Vaziri Moghaddam
“Embodiment of a Century” One Hundred Years of Visual Arts in Iran
(Part Nine)
Image Sources:
Pioneers of Modern Iranian Art, Mohsen Vaziri Moghaddam, 2004
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
Mohsen Vaziri Moghaddam played a significant role in advancing contemporary art in Iran. He was born on May 26, 1924, in Tehran.
Due to his father’s job as a high-ranking military officer, Vaziri Moghaddam spent his childhood and youth in various cities, including Tehran, Behbahan, Ahvaz, Urmia, and Karaj. At the age of 16, in 1940, while in Urmia, he painted with oil for the first time. However, he was unaware that painting could be studied academically. After completing high school at the Agricultural School of Karaj in 1943, he passed the entrance exam for the painting program at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, where he became classmates with Hossein Kazemi, Manouchehr Sheybani, and Mansoureh Hosseini. During this time, he also took violin lessons for two years, which he eventually abandoned, though his interest in music remained lifelong. He graduated from the University of Tehran in 1948.
In Vaziri Moghaddam’s early works, rhythm and movement are key elements, which later become central themes in all his works.
From 1947 to 1955, under the influence of his teacher, Ali Mohammad Heydarian, he focused on representing nature. His works from this period, full of emotion and depth, depict the natural landscapes of Tehran, which are now urban spaces. Landscapes such as Elahieh, Niavaran, Pol-e Rumi, and Emamzadeh Saleh belong to this category of works.
After graduation, he spent three years working for the Point Four Program in Tehran, designing posters and drawing caricatures. Seven years post-graduation, in 1955, he went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Italy, for further studies. During his early years in Italy, to earn a living, he worked in a studio in Rome alongside Bahman Mohassess, Behjat Sadr, Morteza Hannaneh, and Hossein Sarshar, dubbing Italian films into Persian. His time in Italy coincided with the rise of abstract art, which had a profound impact on his artistic vision. During these years, he held significant exhibitions that garnered attention from international critics. In 1958, he completed his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, presenting a thesis on Mondrian and his influence on 20th-century art. From 1956 to 1958, during his stay in Italy, his paintings still bore a distinctly Iranian character. These works were influenced by folk culture, miniatures, and traditional Iranian motifs.
After graduation, he abandoned representational painting entirely, moving towards abstraction. The years from 1958 to 1963 witnessed the creation of some of his most important works. The peak of Vaziri Moghaddam’s creativity, at the age of 35, is evident in these dynamic and action-packed paintings. In 1959, he began his “sand painting” period, creating works with colored sands on canvas.
