PERSIAN MIRROR-WORK
September 2, 2025
ISFAHAN
September 2, 202516 December 1922–20 April 2019 was an Iranian artist and collector of traditional folk art. One of the most important Iranian painters of the present time, she was the first to establish an artistic practice that weds the geometric patterns and cut-glass mosaic methods (Āina-kāri) of her Iranian history and the rhythms of modern Western geometric abstraction. In 2017, the Monir Museum in Tehran, Iran, was dedicated to her.
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian / Courtesy of the Third Line, Dubai.
She worked as a freelance fashion artist for magazines such as Glamour before being employed by Bonwit Teller, when she met a teenage Andy Warhol. She also learnt more about art through museum visits and exposure to the 8th Street Club and New York's avant-garde art scene, where she met artists and contemporaries such as Louise Nevelson, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Barnett Newman, and Joan Mitchell.
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian. Photo courtesy of Friendsoffriends
In early 1957, Farmanfarmaian returned to Iran. Inspired by the local culture, she developed "a fascination with tribal and folk creative traditions" from her country's history, which "inspired her to reconsider the past and devise a new route for her work." In the following years, she expanded on her Persian influence by creating mirror mosaics and abstract monotypes. Meanwhile, her work was exhibited at the Iran Pavilion at the 1958 Venice Biennale, as well as shows at Tehran University (1963), the Iran-America Society (1973), and the Jacques Kaplan/Mario Ravagnan Gallery (1974).
Khordad - Convertible Series, 2011 / Courtesy of James Cohan
In 1979, Farmanfarmaian and her second husband, Abol-Bashar, went to New York to see relatives. Around the same period, the Islamic Revolution started, and the Farmanfarmaians were banished from Iran for more than 20 years. Farmanfarmaian sought to reconcile her mirror mosaics with the limited resources available in America, but a shortage of materials, such as thin mirrors, and untrained workers hampered her efforts. Meanwhile, she focused more on other parts of her art, such as commissions, textile design, and painting. Farmanfarmaian returned to Iran in 1992, and in 2004, in Tehran, she confirmed her presence in Iran's art world by bringing together both previous and new staff to assist her in creating mosaics.
Farmanfarmaian's works include paintings, sketches, textile patterns, and monotypes, in addition to her Āina-kāri mirror work method. She continued to live and work in Tehran until her death. On 20 April 2019 Farmanfarmaian died at her home at the age of 96.
Sunset & Sunrise / Courtesy of Irish Museum of Modern Art