01.09.1926–29.06.2012
Mansooreh Hosseini
Mansooreh Hosseini graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran in 1949, then studied in Rome and in 1956 showed her work at the Venice Biennale. After returning to Tehran in 1959 she won awards at the Tehran Painting Biennial. Her paintings sometimes include elements of Kufic script, and she wrote critical notes on exhibitions for newspapers.
Biography
In November 1971 the Tehran newspaper Kayhan published a piece by Mansooreh Hosseini titled “Why Do Exhibitions Have No Viewers?” Its occasion was Guity Novin’s exhibition “Expression of Silence”, but the artist wrote mostly about something else: the exhibition of Henry Moore’s sculptures at the National Museum of Iran, which she had visited several times. An acquaintance who had just come back from Europe called the show “the event of the century”. When she asked a well-known poet about the exhibition, he replied that he had taken the sculptures for her own work.
She was born in Tehran on 1 September 1926. A talent for drawing, which showed itself early, led her father to hire a painting tutor for her. She then entered the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran and graduated in 1949. In the early 1950s Hosseini went to Italy and continued her education at the Rome Academy of Fine Arts. By one account, her studies were supervised by Amerigo Bartoli, who worked in a free figurative manner. In 1956 she made her debut at the 28th Venice Biennale. She returned to Iran in 1959. At the Tehran Painting Biennial she won several awards. In 2004 her work was shown at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.
She did not keep to a single direction in her art: both figurative and abstract works of hers are known. Some of her works include elements of Kufic script. Like her contemporary Behjat Sadr, she combined traditional Persian culture with contemporary European art, and she gained a reputation as an experimenter. She was a permanent member of the Academy of Arts of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Alongside painting she wrote art reviews for Iranian publications. I think the article about empty galleries is the best illustration of her view of the art life of the time: it describes openings where guests stand with their backs to the pictures, and ordinary days when the galleries are empty.
She died in Tehran in June 2012. The exact date is disputed: by some accounts 13 June, by others 29 June. Neighbours found her body on 28 June.
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