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Untitled, 2013

2013
Not on view
Nasrollah Afjei trained at the Iranian Calligraphists’ Association and was a key player in Paris’s avant-garde movement of the 70s, Lettrisme, in which letters formed the basis for visual works. In this painting, Afjei has repeated the Persian word eshq (meaning love) over and over. The act of repeating obscures our reading of the word, and instead crafts it into a wave-like field with a marble effect. Afjei’s masterful balancing of linguistic meaning with pure abstraction brings new depth to the lineage of calligraphy.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Untitled, 2013
  • Artist: Nasrollah Afjei (Iranian, born Tehran, 1933)
  • Date: 2013
  • Geography: Country of Origin Iran
  • Medium: Acrylic on canvas
  • Dimensions: Not framed.
    H. 62 3/4 in. (159.4 cm)
    W. 62 3/4 in. (159.4 cm)
    D. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, 2011 NoRuz at The Met Benefit, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.1092
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Nasrollah Afjei
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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