Reza Samimi was an Iranian painter born at Meshed , Persia, in 1919. He worked in oils and in a variety of styles including portraiture, landscape, still life, flowers and even tasteful nudity. It is said his style was influenced both by the early Iranian miniaturists as well as by Rembrandt and Wright of Derby. He usually signed his work: R. Samimi.
Samimi took up portrait painting in his twenties and at the age of 28 had his first important commission, a portrait of Princess Chamas, sister of the Shah of Persia. He was subsequently commissioned to undertake a second portrait, that of the Shah’s wife, the Empress Farah Diba Pahlavi herself. But come the Iranian revolution, Samimi was perceived as too close to the “ancien regime” and had to leave the country. But he continued to paint the portraits of important people including Heads of State. One notable portrait was that of President Eisenhower of the USA.
Paintings by Samimi occasionally come up for auction and typically fetch in the range US$1,500-2,500. Prints of his work are also enduringly popular, especially his portrayals of the female nude. The artist died in 1991.
Mehrdad Samimi, the successful American artist, is the son of Reza Samimi
Artismus247
November 2018
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