ntroducing the art of Motabar

Manuchehr Motabar can be called an academic painter in the sense in which the term "academic" is applied to the main body of European art. Motabar, who is nearing the age of 70, has experimented with a great variety of art during a five-decade Career. His works of the 70s closely resembles the paintings of the American and Italian photo-realists. The tradition of Kamal-ol-Molk and Heidarian imperceptibly treads a middle ground among the artistic movements of the past 100 years, and yet preserves its identity in a surprising fashion.
Motabar and Davudian are two of the most important living artists of that tradition. In his pictorial depiction Motabar relies more on drawing and lines than color. Thus it could be said that he is more of a definer than an illustrator. His sporadic use of color is not aimed at utilizing the qualitative, conceptual features of colors; rather it is meant to emphasize shadows and dark areas. He draws with a precision which at times borders on an obsession and for that reason one feels the effect of an obsession in his drawings.
He believes that artistic creation is like fishing pearls; it should be engaged in with love, awareness of treatment styles and courage in delving in the depths.
 
Biography
Manuchehr Motabar
Manuchehr Motabar was born in Shiraz in 1936. After finishing high school and graduating for Tehran University, he traveled to the U. S. for further studies. He had three training courses in drawing at New York Association of Art Students and did post-graduate studies in Indiana University.
After returning home, Motabar began to teach drawing and painting at visual arts colleges and art universities in Tehran.
He has had over 30 solo exhibitions and participated in more than 40 group shows in Iran and abroad. Modabber received prestigious prizes such as the medal and diploma of honor at the Exhibition of world painters in Monaco in 1958