Sadegh Tabrizi (3 March 1938, Tehran – 4 December 2017, London) was one of the pioneering figures of modern art in Iran, known above all for his role in shaping the language of calligraphy painting within the broader Saqqakhaneh movement. A painter, designer, and calligrapher, Tabrizi’s career spanned five decades in which he helped define a modern Iranian aesthetic that remained rooted in indigenous forms while engaging with international modernism.
Tabrizi first trained at the College of Decorative Arts, graduating in 1964, but even before that he had worked in the ceramics workshop of the Administrative Office of Fine Arts, where he experimented with calligraphic motifs on ceramic surfaces, integrating textual ornament with applied art forms.¹ This early synthesis between craft and painting anticipated his later innovations, where calligraphy would become central not as text but as form, structure, and painterly rhythm.
In the early 1960s, Tabrizi emerged as one of the key artists associated with the Saqqakhaneh school, a term coined by the critic Karim Emami to describe artists who drew inspiration from Shiʿi popular iconography, shrine ornamentation, talismanic forms, and religious calligraphy, transforming them into a new modernist idiom.² Alongside artists such as Hossein Zenderoudi, Faramarz Pilaram, Mansur Qandriz, and Parviz Tanavoli, Tabrizi participated in shaping this movement that became the most distinctive current of Iranian modernism in the decades before the Revolution. His particular contribution lay in his development of calligraphy painting, where script dissolves into color, texture, and abstraction, balancing legibility and visual rhythm.
Stylistically, his works are notable for their vibrant chromatic contrasts and compositional density. He often integrated Persian miniature figures, ornamental patterns, and fragments of text into richly layered surfaces, using paint, collage, metallic pigments, and sometimes ceramics. In an untitled oil from 1967, for instance, the imagery of horsemen and historical attributes is divided into decorative zones reminiscent of talismanic shirts or metal plates, while in later works the calligraphic element increasingly dominates, transforming letters into abstract structures.³ Across these phases, his work retains a dialogic tension between figuration and abstraction, ornament and painting, text and image.
Beyond his art, Tabrizi also played a role in shaping cultural institutions. In 1973 he founded Gallery 66 in Tehran, an important space for the display of contemporary art, and in the aftermath of the 1979 Revolution he designed the first emblem of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as the well-known poster “Nights of Allah Akbar.”⁴ His works were widely exhibited in Tehran and internationally—in Europe, North America, and Asia—and are held in collections including the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and the Grey Art Gallery at New York University.⁵
Throughout his career, Tabrizi remained critical of certain institutional trends in Iran, particularly the role of auctions in shaping artistic taste and value. Yet his own reputation steadily grew, and today he is remembered as one of the most significant Iranian artists of his generation. By bringing calligraphy into modern painting, and by fusing traditional iconography with a cosmopolitan modernist vision, Tabrizi secured a place for himself in the canon of Iranian modern art. His work demonstrates how national tradition can be revitalized within a modern language, and how art can serve as a bridge between cultural memory and contemporary form.
The cover of volume #11 of The Persian Literature Review displays a detail of an artwork by Sadegh Tabrizi, titled “Three Riders” (1996).
Three Riders (1996) is a striking acrylic and gold leaf on canvas that combines decorative elegance with symbolic depth. The composition presents three mounted figures arranged in rhythmic balance, their forms flattened against a stylized background that emphasizes symmetry and design over naturalistic depth. The use of gold leaf elevates the scene, evoking associations with sacred iconography or illuminated manuscripts, while also creating a shimmering interplay with the cooler blue tones of the palette. This material choice lends the work both a sense of timelessness and a luxurious, reflective surface quality.
The riders themselves appear calm and meditative rather than dynamic, suggesting archetypal or mythic significance rather than literal narrative. Horses and figures are stylized, contributing to the work’s decorative, almost icon-like character. The controlled application of paint reinforces this aesthetic, prioritizing clarity and harmony over expressive brushwork. Overall, the painting reflects Tabrizi’s ability to merge traditional symbolic motifs with modern compositional restraint, balancing narrative suggestion with ornamental beauty. Its strength lies in its visual impact and cultural resonance, though its interpretive ambiguity may leave viewers questioning its intended story.
¹ *MECAGallery*, “Sadegh Tabrizi,” [https://www.mecagallery.ca/copy-of-reza-yahyaee](https://www.mecagallery.ca/copy-of-reza-yahyaee)
² *Encyclopaedia Iranica*, “Saqqa-khaneh School of Art,” [https://iranicaonline.org/articles/saqqa-kana-ii-school-of-art](https://iranicaonline.org/articles/saqqa-kana-ii-school-of-art)
³ Christie’s Auction Catalogue, Lot 93, 2008, [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5132335](https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5132335)
⁴ *Wikipedia*, “Sadegh Tabrizi,” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadegh_Tabrizi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadegh_Tabrizi)
⁵ *Wikipedia*, “Sadegh Tabrizi,” and Grey Art Gallery, NYU collections
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