Biography

While still in high school, Ghandriz was drawn to the progressive realist paintings of Ilya Repin (1844–1930) and Russian-Armenian seascape artist Ivan Aivazovsky (1817–1900). Later in college, and before turning to a paradigmatic exhortation of modernist language within local Iranian narrative, and developing his own semi-abstract style, he was introduced to European modernism, and he delved into the tradition of Russian realists and European classical and figurative art. Incorporating the figurative techniques of old masters, he created his own corporeal abstraction, which also indicates a process of gradual formalization, progressing from free forms to order. Matisse, Picasso, and Persian miniature paintings inspired Ghandriz’s early figurative work. He chose, as a critic commented, “mystical symbols to combine traditional and modern elements into his abstract designs.” Ghandriz played a pivotal role in the establishing the Talar-e Iran (Iran Gallery), founded in 1964. In 2016, his work “Untitled” sold for $250,000 USD.