Farshchian was born on January 24, 1930 in the Iranian central city of Esfahan, the capital of Persian art. Growing up in the hub of Irans artistic masterpiecesenabled the prodigy to discovered his creative talent in painting at an early age.
His father, who was a prominent Persian carpet merchant and an art aficionado, instilled the passion into his son and signed him up at the workshops of prominent painting maestros Haji Mirza-Agha Emami and Isa Bahadori at the age of seven, where he learned painting techniques of Timurid (13701507) and Safavid (15011736) eras.
In 1945, he continued studying miniature and designing tileworks at Esfahan high school for the fine arts. Farschian then travelled to Europe to study the works of Western painters at European museums for several years, where he developed an innovative artistic style with universal appeal.
After returning to Iran, the maestro started working at the National Institute of Fine Arts and was appointed director of the Department of National Arts and professor at the University of Tehran's School of Fine Arts.
The painting master has displayed his works in nearly 150 individual and group exhibitions and many of his works are at display in several museums and major collections worldwide, including the British Library, Freer Gallery of Art, Bibliotheque Nationale, Metropolitan Museum and Harvard University.
The Museum of Master Mahmoud Farshchian" in Tehrans Saad Abad Palace, has been devoted to the works of the master since 2001.
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The evening of Ashura, by Mahmoud Farshchian[/caption]Farshchian was chosen as an outstanding 21st century intellectual by Cambridge in 2000 and he has received several prestigious international awards, including DeviantART (2009 & 2010), Golden Palm of Europe (1987), Oscar D'Italia (1985), Vessillo Europa Delle Arte (1984) and International Art Festival (1958).
Combining the classic Persian miniature with modern painting techniques, the maestro founded a new school in Iranian Painting, which makes the art form independent from the symbiotic relationship it has traditionally had with poetry and literature.
At the same time, the imaginative works are still deeply inspired with Persian literature, mysticism, myths and religious stories. Farshchians works communicate with modern viewers from a timeless world, touching upon fundamental life questions, paradoxical elements of existence, spirituality, peace, love, sorrow and death.
Whenever I decide to start a new work, I try to fully expose myself to the mood, the excitement and the state of the idea itself. This creates a deeper connection and intimacy between myself, the art work and the viewer, Farshchian says in a 2012 interview. The infinite curves depicted all over the paintings create a vibrant dynamism which is reminiscent of a world in which every particle is dancing.
The maestro is well-known for his boldness in using enormous variety of colors and creating mesmerizing hues which captivate the viewers.
An artist, with the blessing of his art, can be in a state of constant love and connection with the One. The internal transformation that follows this experience, can take the artist into a much wider realm, where the exterior qualities of the physical beloved lose color and meaning for the artist. That is how the artist finds the essence of the Creator, for whom s/he has created this physical object of love, he said in a 2012 interview with Russian news agency Sputnik.
Praising the physical qualities of an earthly love which will certainly age and decaycan only go so far. All expressions of earthly love are in fact praising the One, he added.
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Rumi and Shams, by Mahmoud Farshchian[/caption]Molana (Rumi) and Shams is among Farshchians most famous works unveiled in the summer of 2007. The painting depicts Shams in the midst of countless curved images resembling the sun with Molana (Rumi) in the center.
Here both Shams and Rumi are creating each other. The beloved becomes so significant for the lover that the lover becomes the beloved and vice versa; the guiding light and the emancipating presence of Shams and the hands that he has extended towards Molana. Was Shams Gods light or was he an ordinary human being?
