TEHRAN -- Photos of works by the Iranian sculptor and painter Abolhassan Sediqi (1894–1995), one of the few pioneers of modern Iranian sculpture, are currently on display in an exhibit at the Iranian cultural attaché’s office in Paris.
The negatives of the photos taken by Sediqi between 1928 and 1931 on one his journeys to Europe have recently been developed.
Thus, these photos have been put on display for the first in this exhibition, which comes to an end today.
Sediqi made his first sculpture based on a photo of Venus de Milo, a Greek statue of Venus in marble, c. 200 BC, which was found in 1820 on Melos and now is on display at the Louvre, Paris.
He presented the statue to Ahmad Shah, the last Qajar king who reigned from 1909 to 1925. Shortly afterwards, the artwork was discovered to be missing.
The statues he created of many Iranian luminaries were set up in Iranian and foreign cities. A number of his works have also been acquired by some Iranian and foreign museums and collectors.
The statue of Nader Shah, located on his tomb in Mashhad, was made by Sediqi. He also created sculptures of Hafez, Ferdowsi, Khayyam and several other Persian poets.
His 3-meter marble statue of Ferdowsi was installed in one of the main squares in Tehran in 1959.
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