Biography

Jazeh Tabatabai (Persian: ژازه تباتبايي) (January 17, 1931 – February 9, 2008) was an Iranian avant-garde painter, poet, and sculptor. Tabatabai received over 10 major international awards for his paintings and sculptures. He was the founder and director of the Iran Modern Art Gallery in Tehran, Iran. Tabatabai’s present fame is mostly due to his creative figures and metal sculptures which he assembled with parts from old machinery and cars. His style is close to the Saqqā-ḵāna School of Art; lion-women and suns are repeating themes in his work. For this reason, he is cited alongside a handful of other influential Iranian artists as a pioneer of the Saqqā-ḵāna School of Art, which took form in the 80s.