Reza Mafi

Reza Mafi
رضا مافی
Born(1943-11-27)27 November 1943
Mashhad, Iran
Died26 September 1982(1982-09-26) (aged 38)
Resting placeShah Abdol-Azim Shrine
Other namesSadr al-Kitab
OccupationsCalligrapher, painter
MovementSaqqakhaneh

Reza Mafi (Persian: رضا مافی; 27 November 1943 – 26 September 1982)[1] was an Iranian contemporary calligrapher and painter.[2][3][4] He was a pioneer of Iranian modernism. He was nicknamed "Sadr al-Kitab" (lit. 'beginning of a book').

Life and career

Reza Mafi was born on 27 November 1943, in Mashhad, Pahlavi Iran (now Iran).[1] His elder brother Mohammad Mafi was a painter. Mafi studied under the apprenticeship of Persian calligrapher Jalal ed-Din Etezadi.[5] He continued his studies for another four years under Hossein Mirkhani, a professor at the Society of Iranian Calligraphists.[5]

Mafi was one of the earliest artists to explore modern calligraphic painting in Iran (also known as naqashi-khat).[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Dehqan, Sadeq. "Reza Mafi's masterpieces return to Tehran after four decades". Iran Daily. Archived from the original on May 26, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  2. ^ "عکسی نایاب از رضا مافی، هنرمند بزرگ نقاشی و خط که در جوانی درگذشت" [A rare photo of Reza Mafi, a great painter and calligraphy artist who died young]. خبرآنلاین (khabaronline.ir) (in Persian). September 25, 2020. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  3. ^ "Reza Mafi". Caroun. North Vancouver, BC, Canada: Caroun Photo Club (CPC). Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  4. ^ "Calligraffiti: Iranian Artists' Work on View in New York". Persianesque Magazine.
  5. ^ a b "Reza Mafi Biography". AskArt.
  6. ^ Keshmirshekan, Hamid (May 19, 2023). Art of Iran in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries: Tracing the Modern and the Contemporary. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-8866-2.