Aydin Aghdashloo is one the most distinguished, Iranian contemporary artists in the world, and an expert in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century European painting and Islamic Art, including Persian miniatures and calligraphy. An independent artist, in 1975, Mr. Aghdashloo held his first individual exhibition at the Iran-America Society in Tehran; he went on to assist in the opening of three museums before 1979: the Reza Abbasi Museum, the Archaeology Museum of Khorramabad, and the Kerman San’ati Museum of Contemporary Art.
Prior to the revolution of 1979, Mr. Aghdashloo was Cultural Advisor for Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran. Thereafter, Mr. Aghdashloo lived and worked part-time in the West, developing his artistry and exposing the world to his art and his aesthetic.
Mr. Aghdashloo has published more than a dozen books, including eight collections of articles, three collections of paintings, and two research collations about Iranian art history. He is a widely-read film critic and many of today’s young filmmakers read his reviews growing up. His credentials include teaching positions at various eminent universities, including Tehran Alzahra University and he has given lectures around the world at prestigious institutions such as Oxford University, the University of Toronto and the University of California. He was the host and writer of a popular TV documentary series regarding Iranian arts and architecture before the revolution and established a private academy for art where he taught painting and art history to thousands of students over almost four decades after the revolution, when he was let go of all his official positions due to political reasons.
Mr. Aghdashloo’s diverse accomplishments are widely praised. Among other commentators, author Edward Lucie-Smith lauded Mr. Aghdashloo’s “ironic subversion of a revered western original.” And film director Abbas Kiarostami declared Mr. Aghdashloo “not just a great painter,” but a “cultural heritage himself.”
The French government, too, has recognized Mr. Aghdashloo’s tremendous achievements in his field. In 2016, he was awarded the prestigious Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in a ceremony in Tehran.