Art of the Persian Courts: Selections from the Art and History Trust

February 18–April 18, 1993

Persian ideas and sensibilities spread following the Mongol invasions of Iran in the 13th century. Through the lavish patronage of the Ilkhanid, Timurid, Safavid, and Mughal rulers, the arts of the book were elevated to objects of beauty as well as vehicles to express dynastic aspirations and legitimacy. Princes and sultans established complex library-ateliers of calligraphers, painters, illuminators, and binders for the creation of opulent manuscripts.

Over the centuries, these texts and images evolved into an established set of conventions and idealized figural types. The artists who created the images, and the rulers who commissioned them, generally had little interest in recreating the real world. Rather, the brilliant, jewel-like palette and conventions of pose, perspective, and two-dimensionality characteristic of Persian painting were meant to reflect an ideal world of beauty and perfection.

Nearly all major schools of Persian painting and drawing are featured in the exhibition of calligraphy, manuscript illumination and illustration, painting, and drawing. As the power and artistic patronage of the ruling dynasties waned, members of the aristocratic and growing mercantile classes began to commission portraits and other independent paintings 0f works not intended for inclusion in manuscripts or albums. In addition to a selection of these works, the exhibition will include several large-scale Qajar portraits from the early 19th century executed in oil canvas, a medium betraying the influence of Western contact through diplomatic exchanges and trade. The latest works in the exhibition are illuminated calligraphies from the early 20th century.

Drawn from the Art and History Trust, Liechtenstein, the show offers a spectacular survey of the distinctive Persian aesthetic, one of the pinnacles of taste and innovation in the Islamic world. Iranian collector Abolala Soudavar assembled the objects over the past 20 years, creating a collection that is renowned for its scope and the outstanding quality of the works.

Catalogue by Abolala Soudavar, Iranian collector, and Milo C. Beach, Director of the Freer and Sackler Galleries of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

The exhibition was coordinated with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Nima Cultural Institute, and Reza’s Restaurant. The exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.