Akbar Behkalam (, 16 September 1944 – 7 February 2025) was an Iranian-born German painter.

Biography

Akbar Behkalam was born in

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

, Iran on 16 September 1944, the capital of the

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian province

East Azerbaijan East Azerbaijan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Tabriz. The province is located in Iranian Azerbaijan, bordering Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ardabil province, West Azerbaijan province ...

. From 1961 until 1964, he studied art at Tabriz Art School. After his military service he moved to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, where he enrolled at the

Mimar Sinan University Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (, or MSGSÜ) is a public university, public Art school, art university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university's campus is located in the Fındıklı, Beyoğlu, Fındıklı, Beyoğlu. The university was established ...

in Fine Arts and became the student of professor

Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu (1911 – 21 September 1975) was a Turkish people, Turkish Painting, painter, mosaic-maker, muralist, writer and poet. His art work was inspired by Anatolian village scenes and folk literature, and included traditional ha ...

. From 1972 until 1974, he lived in different European cities, including Paris, Frankfurt, Rome and Berlin. In 1974, he went back to Iran, to teach at the Tabriz Art School. In 1976, he left Iran for political reasons. He lived in Berlin. As of 1989, he had a studio in Brandenburg. In 1989, he published the book, ''Movement and Change Paintings and Sketches: 1977–1988.'' Behkalam was married to a German woman, and together they had two children. He died in Berlin on 7 February 2025, at the age of 80.

Art

Akbar Behkalam's early works often deal with political subjects, but over time they became increasingly abstract.Scheiwiller, S.C. (ed.), ''Performing the Iranian State: Visual Culture and Representations of Iranian Identity,'' Anthem Press, 2014, p. 116 His early works are influenced by the New European

Realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

, in a symbiosis with Persian

miniature painting Miniature painting may refer to: * Miniature (illuminated manuscript), a small illustration used to decorate an illuminated manuscript ** Persian miniature, a small painting on paper in the Persian tradition, for a book or album ** Ottoman miniatur ...

. His later works, up to present time can be described as abstract-expressive. A focal point of his works is the depiction of the formation and choreography of mass movements. One recurring theme in his works is the turbulent history of his home country

: the series "Persepolis" (1977–1979) deals with old Persian iconography, that is confronted with the depiction of the execution squads of the

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

-regime. In the eighties he produced the series "Justice in Allah's Name", that has the religiously legitimized human rights violations of the

Islamic Republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...

as its central theme. From 1984 to 1986 Behkalam did extensive research on the

German revolution of 1848 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and produced several large scale paintings on that subject that were presented in his solo exhibition at the Staatliche Kunsthalle Berlin (State Art Gallery Berlin) in 1986. Behkalam showed his works in many exhibitions in Europe, Asia and North and South America. In 2009 he was the winner of the

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

Biennial in Uzbekistan.

References

External links

Website von Akbar Behkalam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Behkalam, Akbar 1944 births 2025 deaths Iranian painters Iranian emigrants to Germany German people of Azerbaijani descent Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul alumni 20th-century German painters 20th-century Iranian male artists 20th-century German male artists German male painters 21st-century German painters 21st-century Iranian male artists 21st-century German male artists Artists from Tabriz

Biography

Art

See also

References

External links