Mihr 'Ali

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This article is about the Persian painter. For other uses, see Mir Ali.
Fath Ali Shah Qajar, 1815. Brooklyn Museum
Painting of Fat'h Ali Shah Qajar by Mihr 'Ali (1813–14), Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.
Another of Mihr 'Ali's paintings of Fat'h Ali Shah Qajar, now in the collection of the Golestan Palace.

Mihr 'Ali (

Fat'h Ali Shah Qajar, and is regarded as the most notable Persian portraitist of the early part of this reign.[1] Mihr Ali was one of the foremost painters of the early period of Qajar art
.

Mihr 'Ali's chief skill was his ability to capture the portrait-sitter's grandeur and power, and as such he became a favourite painter of the Shah.[1] Mihr 'Ali produced at least ten full-size oil paintings of Fat'h Ali Shah, one of the earliest of which was probably sent as a present to the amirs of Sind in 1800. A further portrait, of the Shah enthroned, was sent to Napoleon. Mihr Ali's finest portrait is an 1813–4 work, regarded by some as the finest Persian oil painting in existence.[2] It shows a full-length portrait of the King wearing a gold brocade robe and a royal crown, holding a jewelled staff.

Fat'h Ali Shah commissioned great numbers of lifesize portraits of himself and his sons, works which formed the backdrop to court ceremonies. The works, painted by Mihr 'Ali and his predecessor as court painter, Mirza Baba, portrayed Fat'h Ali Shah in his many stately roles, and were intended to show his power as a ruler rather than to be realistic portraits. As a result, the works are heavily stylised, are painted in rich, deep tones, and are filled with symbols of power.[3]

Other important works by Mehr 'Ali include a series of portraits of Persian rulers and figures from the

Kay Khusraw, though the Kay Khusraw portrait does not exist in its full form but has been reduced to only some 80% of its original size. Despite this, it sold at auction at Christie's in London in 2007 for £54,000 ($US 107,500).[4]
The other two works are also in private hands, having been auctioned by the same company in 1987.

Mihr 'Ali was also a capable teacher, his pupils including the noted painter

Abul-Hasan Ghaffari.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Sotheby's [dead link]
  2. ^ "Answers - the Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions". Answers.com.
  3. ^ "Nineteenth-Century Iran: Art and the Advent of Modernity - Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
  4. ^ "Portrait of Kay Khusraw".
  5. ^ Necipoğlu, Gülru (6 October 1999). "Muqarnas, Volume 16: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World". BRILL. Retrieved 6 October 2023 – via Google Books.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mihr 'Ali.
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