Sohrab Sepehri
“The embodiment of a century” One Hundred Years of Visual Arts of Iran
(Part Four)
Image Sources: Sohrab Sepehri’s sketches and drafts, 1990
Sohrab, the Migrant Bird, 1997
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
Sohrab Sepehri was born on October 7, 1928, in Qom and grew up in Kashan. Kashan is also the birthplace of the renowned Iranian painter Mohammad Ghaffari, known as Kamal-ol-Molk. Before becoming a painter like his famous fellow townsman, Sohrab was a poet and engaged in literary activities in Kashan. He completed high school in 1943 and moved to Tehran to attend a two-year teacher training program. In 1945, he returned to Kashan and began teaching.
Sohrab became increasingly interested in painting after meeting another fellow townsman, Manouchehr Sheibani, a poet and painter. Born in 1924 in Kashan, Sheibani was four years older than Sohrab. Influenced by Sheibani and their interactions, Sohrab resigned from his job at the Department of Culture in Kashan in 1948, at the age of 20, and after obtaining a literary diploma, moved to Tehran to study painting at the Tehran University’s Faculty of Fine Arts, which had been renamed from the School of Fine Arts in 1949.
Sohrab, who pursued poetry and painting simultaneously, published his first collection of poems, “The Death of Color,” in 1951. Two years later, in 1953, he graduated with top honors from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tehran University and received the First Degree Art Medal. In the same year, he published his second book, “Life is Dreams.” From this point, Sohrab began to seriously exhibit his unique perspective in solo and group exhibitions, receiving acclaim from audiences and critics. He traveled to countries such as the United States, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, France, England, Italy, Japan, Egypt, and India, where he also showcased his works.
In 1958, the first Tehran Biennial of Painting and Sculpture was organized by the Department of Fine Arts of Iran and spearheaded by Marco Grigorian. This event introduced Iranian artists to the Venice Biennial and continued for five sessions until 1966. Sohrab Sepehri not only participated in these biennials but also successfully presented his works at the Venice Biennial, showcasing them on this global stage.
In 1961, Sohrab began teaching at the School of Decorative Arts, which was established the previous year and later became the Faculty of Decorative Arts, eventually evolving into the University of Art after the revolution.
In 1977, Sohrab Sepehri’s collected works of poetry were published in a single volume titled “Eight Books” by Tahoori Publishing House, which is his most famous work.
Sohrab did not paint people. He preferred to paint nature. However, a few of his paintings do feature people, such as his mother and some residents of Kashan, but he never painted their faces. Once, at the request of the Central Bank, he painted a large picture of an astronaut. Even in this painting, the astronaut floating in space has no face and flies towards the sky with wings on his shoulders.
Sohrab Sepehri passed away at 6 PM on April 21, 1980, at the age of 52, due to leukemia at Pars Hospital in Tehran. The next day, he was buried in the courtyard of Imamzadeh Sultan Ali in the village of Mashhad Ardehal. His grave marker was initially a piece of blue tile. Although Reza Mafi had made a gravestone for Sohrab, the caretakers of the Imamzadeh did not allow it to be installed for ten years. Reza Mafi, one of Iran’s most important contemporary calligraphers, was 37 at the time of Sohrab’s death and passed away two years later, never seeing the gravestone installed. Eight years after Mafi’s death, the gravestone was finally placed on Sohrab’s grave, but it was later broken and replaced with another stone.
Although Sohrab Sepehri had a short life, he spent much of it traveling, like a migratory bird, in search of the meaning of life. However, what remains of him in Iranian art is the depiction of Kashan’s landscapes and trees. These serene, minimalistic, yet profound scenes reflect Sohrab’s inner peace and tranquility.
