Iranian Artist

Iran has a long, rich visual art tradition, from Persian miniature painting and calligraphy to a contemporary art scene that has produced some of the most respected artists working today, both inside the country and abroad. This section gathers painters, sculptors, and photographers from Iran, spanning that same range between classical technique and bold modern expression. Themes of identity, memory, and place often run through the work here, shaped by Iran’s complex history and culture. Explore this section to see how Iranian artists carry a deep visual tradition into work that speaks to a global audience.

Akbar Akbari | Iranian Artist

Akbar Akbari is an Iranian watercolor painter and teacher whose portraits mix precise technique with a quiet emotional warmth. He began his career in 1998 and has spent decades shifting between soft washes and sharp detail without losing that gentle feeling in his work.
Mohsen Kiyanzadeh | Iranian Artist

Mohsen Kiyanzadeh is an Iranian painter born in 1979, known for vibrant contemporary work in both watercolor and oil. He has held solo exhibitions across Iran and abroad, and has also painted large scale murals, including over 800 meters of wall art for an industrial complex in Arak.
Javad Soleimanpour | Iranian Artist

Javad Soleimanpour is a self-taught Iranian pastel painter born in Tabriz who has painted professionally for 25 years. Known for seascapes and portraits, he now lives near the Sea of Marmara and teaches at the Seven Art Gallery in Istanbul.
Morteza Katouzian | Iranian Artist

Morteza Katouzian was an Iranian painter born in Iran in 1943, celebrated for blending traditional Persian motifs with modern technique across painting, calligraphy, and illustration. Drawing inspiration from Rumi and Hafez, he became an influential teacher and a steadfast advocate for Iranian artistic tradition.
Majid Arvari | Iranian Artist

Majid Arvari is an Iranian realist painter born in Tehran in 1969 who began studying under Master Morteza Katouzian in 1990 after seeing his work the year before. In 2001 he co-founded a painting studio with Iman Maleki built on classical and traditional values, and in 2004 he was named a top 100 finalist in…
Iman Maleki | Iranian Artist

Iman Maleki is an Iranian realist painter born in Tehran in 1976, who began formal lessons at fifteen under the master realist Morteza Katouzian. He founded his own ARA Painting Studio in 2000 and won the William Bouguereau Award at the ARC Salon in 2005, and he continues to teach and paint in Tehran today.
Shahrad Malekfazeli | Iranian Artist

Shahrad Malekfazeli is an Iranian figurative painter born in 1975 in Tehran, who began training under realist master Morteza Katouzian at age 15 and was painting professionally by 20. He earned a degree in Graphic Design from Jahad Daneshgahi University in 2001 and was later named a finalist in the Second International ARC Salon competition…
Mitra Shadfar | Iranian Artist

Mitra Shadfar is an Iranian realist painter born in Tehran in 1969, who trained under master painter Morteza Katouzian starting in 1987 at Tehran’s Kara Painting Studio. Known for emotionally rich portraits of women that explore childhood and motherhood through warm color and fine detail, she has exhibited at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art…
Ahmad Haraji | Iranian Artist

Ahmad Haraji is an Iranian-born realist painter who started drawing at 14 in Boroujerd and later studied graphic design and illustration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tehran. He moved to the Netherlands in 2000 and trained further at the Minerva art academy in Groningen, where he still lives and paints today. His richly…
Shirin Neshat | Iranian Artist

Shirin Neshat is an Iranian-born visual artist and filmmaker who left home at 17 and settled in New York, where a return visit to a changed Iran in 1990 reshaped her whole body of work. Her “Women of Allah” photo series and films like “Turbulent,” which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, explore…
Maryam Safe | Iranian Artist

Maryam Safajoo is a Persian American painter born in 1986 and a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow in Fine Arts, who trained at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston. Her miniature oil paintings document the persecution of Iran’s Baháʼí community after the 1979 revolution, drawing partly on her own family’s…