Abolghasem Saeedi

Abolghassem Saidi (born 1926 in Arak, Iran) is an Iranian painter residing in Paris. He moved to France in 1950 to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and graduated in 1955. Since then, Saidi has lived and worked in France, becoming a prominent figure in the second generation of Iranian modernists. He is renowned for his poetic paintings of blossoming trees, characterized by a style leaning towards lyrical abstraction. His works are held in numerous private and public collections and have been displayed in modern buildings in Iran during the 1940s and 1950s. Saidi has also created mural projects for organizations such as the National Radio and Television Organization, the Central Bank, Roudaki Hall, and Shiraz University. One of his notable works is "The Young Widow," which earned him the Salon de Peinture Jeune prize in 1959. Initially, Saidi painted in an Impressionistic style, but after moving to France, he was influenced by the "Homme-Témoin" group and adopted a realistic approach. He participated in the second Tehran Biennale in 1960, where he received the Ministry of Culture and Art prize. His works were also recognized at the fifth Tehran Biennale, where he won the Grand Prize. Saidi was a member of the "Group Five," which included Bahman Mohasses, Sohrab Sepehri, Parviz Tanavoli, and Hossein Zenderoudi. This group held two collective exhibitions at the Shiraz Arts Festival (1966) and the Goethe Institute in Tehran (1967). Saidi's works have been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows both in Iran and internationally. His first appearance at an auction was in November 2007 at Christie's auction house. In 1966, Saidi participated in a group exhibition at the Shiraz Arts Festival with Group Five. In 1959, he received the Salon de Peinture Jeune prize for his painting "The Young Widow." He also won the Grand Prize at the fifth Tehran Biennale.