Lady with a Fan

Maker(s)
Artist: Riza Abbasi (ca. 1565-1635)
Historical period(s)
Safavid period, ca. 1590-92
Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (painting): 13.7 × 6.4 cm (5 3/8 × 2 1/2 in)
Geography
Iran
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1932.9
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Painting
Type

Album leaf with painting

Keywords
fan, Iran, Safavid period (1501 - 1722), woman
Provenance

To 1932
Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), New York to 1932 [1]

From 1932
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Hagop Kevorkian, New York in 1932 [2]

Notes:

[1] Object file, undated folder sheet note. See also Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Hagop Kevorkian 1872-1962

Label

Riza Abbasi, one of the most accomplished Persian painters, is also considered the unrivaled master of the genre of the single-page composition. Active from the late 1580s until his death in 1635, he was the leading artist at the court of Shah Abbas (1589-1629), the powerful Safavid ruler of Iran, but also worked for patrons outside the court. Lady with a Fan, one of his early works, carries Shah Abbas's seal, indicating that it was once part of a royal album. Signed "Aqa [master] Riza," the fine painting bears many of the artist's trademarks, such as his use of sweeping, controlled lines and broad areas of bright color that create a sense of volume. The woman's delicate ringlets and the folds of her diaphanous sleeves lend the image a sense of heightened refinement, another characteristic of Riza Abbasi's work.

Published References
  • Freer Gallery of Art. Gallery Book III: Exhibition of September 5, 1933. Washington, September 5, 1933. .
  • Armenag Sakisian. La Miniature Persane du XIIe au XVIIe siecle: Ouvrage accompagne de la reproduction de 193 miniatures dont deux en couleurs. Paris and Brussels. fig. 171.
  • Richard Ettinghausen, Ernst Kuhnel. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. 6 vols., London and New York, 1938 - 1939. vol. 3: p. 1890.
  • Mehmet Aga-Oglu. Exhibition of Islamic Art. Exh. cat. San Francisco, February 24 - March 22, 1937. .
  • Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Les Miniatures Orientales de la Collection Goloubew au Museum of Fine Arts Boston. vol. 13, Paris. pl. 23, no. 43.
  • Dr. Esin Atil. Exhibition of 2500 Years of Persian Art. Exh. cat. Washington, 1971. cat. 31, pp. 10-11.
  • B. W. Robinson. Persian Drawings from the 14th through the 19th Century. Drawings of the Masters New York. pp.23-4, 83, 136, pl. 51.
  • Sheila R. Canby, Azimuth Editions. The Rebellious Reformer: The Drawings and Paintings of Riza-yi Abbas of Isfahan. London. cat. 6, pp. 29-32, 180.
  • Dr. Esin Atil. The Brush of the Masters: Drawings from Iran and India. Exh. cat. Washington, 1978. cat. 19A, p. 55.
  • Sheila R. Canby. The Life and Work of the Painter Riza. Cambridge, Massachusetts. cat. 6, pp. 60-64, 273.
  • Eleanor Sims, Boris I. Marshak, Ernst Grube. Peerless Images: Persian Painting and its Sources. New Haven and London. p. 72.
  • Eric Schroeder. Persian Miniatures in the Fogg Museum of Art. Cambridge, Massachusetts. cat. 9, pp. 122, 127.
  • Laurence Binyon, J.V.S. Wilkinson, Basil Gray. Persian Miniature Painting: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Miniatures Exhibited at Burlington House, January-March 1931. Exh. cat. Oxford, January - March 1931. p. 165, no. 257.
  • Orient: Mille ans de poesie et de peinture., La petite collection. p. 218.
  • Abolala Soudavar, Milo Cleveland Beach. Art of the Persian Courts: Selections from the Art and History Trust Collection. New York. p. 252.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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