Masoud Arabshahi was born in 1935 in Tehran. After receiving his secondary school diploma from the School of Fine Arts, he entered the Faculty of Fine Arts of Tehran University to study painting, and graduated in 1959.

He then worked in the General Department for Fine Arts but returned to university to receive, in 1965, two MA
degrees one in fine arts, and one in architecture. He currently lives and works in Iran and the USA.

Recently Arabshahi, one of the most outstanding Iranian artists held an exhibition, the latest of many. The following is a commentary on his work, past and present:
Forty years of creative activities by Massoud Arabshahi indicate a search by a modernist artist in the realm of ancient cultures in general, and Iranian culture in particular. He began by utilizing the artistic heritage of the Middle East and followed this by concentrating on the symbolism of antiquity; now he brings the mysterious spirit of past ages to the dynamic world of today. Symbols and signs play such a crucial role in the form and content of each phase of Arabshahi’s works that his artistic enrichment can also be understood by surveying the application of these significant elements.

The motifs applied by Arabshahi fall into three major categories. The first is based on ancient symbols such as the lotus, wheel, shining sun, tree of life, pseudo-cuneiform, etc. The second mainly employs circles, squares, curves, spirals, etc. Finally, the third includes elements such as arrows, mathematical signs, architectural plans, numbers and parabolic lines.

The traditional symbols of the first group are mostly derived from relief works, inscriptions, seals and the
pottery of Mesopotamia and Ancient Persia. Each of these symbols represented a specific concept at its time. The Lotus (water-lily in full bloom) in Assyrian art meant death and rebirth, demonstrating nature’s generative power. The same motif reappears in the Achaemenid art.

The wheel symbolized solar power and the sun revolving in the heavens. In Mesopotamia, the god of war and the god of sun were represented by the Wheel of Life and the Wheel of Sun respectively. The Sun, which appears on Sialk pottery, is a symbol of life and death and the renewal of life through death. In Zoroastrianism, the sun signifies the eye of Ahuramazda, the God. The sun revolving in the sky was a significant symbol of Mithraism.
In many ancient works, the “wheel” represented by a circle and a point in the centre and radii, denoted the light and warmth of the sun. In the past, a tree was a synthesis for the earth, sky, and water. To the Semites and Sumerians the Tree of Life signified cosmic renovation, and the seven branches represented the seven planets and the heavens.

The Babylonians portrayed the world as rotating above the tree of life which had branches of lapis lazuli and bore unfamiliar fruits. Iranians gave the tree of universe seven branches of various metals. The Tree of Life
was the palm tree to Persians and Babylonians, whereas it was the vine to Assyrians. It seems that Arabshahi, in his early paintings, employed these symbols merely as decorative elements regardless of their original meaning. Later works, however, indicate a more deliberate and thoughtful application of motifs resulting from careful studies of Iranian and Islamic art histories. The circular and angular forms as well as cruciform and rhythmic curvilinear, rectangular and horizontal lines constitute the most obvious elements of his works at this stage. The circle is the symbol of the universe, wholeness, and original perfection. In Islamic art the circle represents the vaulted sky and the divine light; the square manifests the earth and perfect stability.

A square inside a circle or a circle inside a square represents a transformation of the spherical form of the
sky on a rectangular Earth or vice versa. The circle often delineates the whole nature and square shapes indicate recognition of this wholeness in the consciousness. The cross has been a universal symbol ever since antiquity. It manifests the centre of the world; a point where the earth and heaven meet; a cosmic axis. The cross also represents an archetypal of man capable of expanding infinitely and harmoniously in both horizontal and vertical planes. In Islam it signifies the union of all states of being: sublime identity and horizontal and vertical expansion. The vertical line is the celestial, spiritual, subjective, positive and active aspects, whereas
the horizontal line demonstrates earthly, logical, passive and negative aspects. The spiral has long been utilized in arts suggesting solar and lunar powers, universal rotation, the sun’s orbit, seasons, rotation of the earth and creative powers.

Double spirals represented rhythms of nature. Application of these elements not only attaches a geometric
sense to Arabshahi’s works, but also brings his art closer to modernism. This is particularly true when his latest conception of space (from the point of view of modern architecture or the cosmic dimension) is brought to
light. At this stage, the elements of the third group gather force and significance. We might have seen arrows, scales, numbers, parabolic lines and graffiti in the artistic creations of many 20th century artists. Their presence in Arabshahi’s paintings, however, denotes a different concept, which is to beckon the mysterious spirit of ancient times into the dynamic world of today.