Footnotes

"Whenever I look at a sketch or a picture done by Ardeshir, I feel the same pain, wonder and anxiety that Zoraster must have experienced in that painful, astonishing and fearful moment when he realized the absolute nakedness of his own soul"
- Esmail Kho'i

Provenance:
Property from the collection of Mr Bijan Saffari, Paris
Acquired directly by the above from the Artist in 1979

Irans most accomplished and prolific cartoonist, Mohasses combines artistic ingenuity with political satire to create shrewd, gripping images that reference and scrutinize key episodes in Iran's turbulent past. Mohasses' professional background as a journalistic cartoonist shapes both the aesthetic and subject matter of his works. Depicted in the form of pictoral vignettes, the miniature size and simple format of his sketches present the viewer with clear, succinct commentaries on a personal scale.

Whilst the majority of Mohasses' work contains acerbic, alarming and often disturbing imagery chronicling the social and civil turmoil plaguing Iran throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the present sketches are almost unique in Mohassess' oeuvre, depicting demure, sedate and thoughtful figures in somber repose.

This is an altogether more thoughtful and pensive side to Mohasses' work and in theme and composition recalls the ruckenfigur of Capsar David Friedrich's "Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog", a seminal example of 19th century romanticism. The parallels between Friedrich's solitary, brooding figure and Mohasses melancholic depictions are evident. Both sets of figures stand at a threshold, staring into a distant void.

This is a potent association which not only points to the crisis of identity engendered by the forced migrations of the Iranian revolution, which must have been particularly pertinent for Mohasses at the time when the present works were composed, but also contains a self-reflective element, expressing concern and uncertainty in the face of an unknown future, an anxiety which loomed large for Iranians displaced by social turmoil of the 1970's.