An overview of Iranian sculpture and abstraction dispositions

From the very beginning of İranian history of art, sculpture has been used as decorative side element in households, instruments and also in architecture. Besides, there have been many rock-cut reliefs -which mainly illustrate the lives, wars and conquests of the kings- discovered in different areas of Iran. This type of artworks usually demonstrates the cultural elements and beliefs of the people of those times and sometimes includes symbolic imageries of holy or sacred matters that today are a source of inspiration for Iranian sculptors. Due to some Islamic beliefs which restricted the use of sculpture, this medium of art have a tendency to use deformed and abstracted forms, but never in a naturalistic way. As a result of Iran′s cultural relation with European countries during the times of the king Reza Pahlavi dynasty, effects of Europe art were reflected in the art of Iran. Meanwhile, sculpture in Iran has technically improved and has managed to stand out as an independent form of art. Artists of the "Saqqa-Khane", a dispisition peculiar to Iran, have managed a connection between the modern and traditional form of art using visual elements of folk art. Islamic revolution, alongside with the Iran-Iraq wars, caused a ten-year hesitation in art performs and specially sculpture. At those times, the art was exhibited and expressed whithin the framework of limitations and mostly tended to use abstract forms and narratives. Despite of all these steps, today Iranian sculpture has gained it‟s own freedom. The symbolic abstract elements, which are engraved in the subconscious of the artists, carrying traces of thousands years of history and culture, are now being depicted in contemporary artworks. This thesis aims to discuss abstract tendency in Iranian sculpture starting from the prehistoric ages up to the present times, focusing on characteristics of each time period while referring to artists of each respective eras and their artworks.