Grosvenor Gallery
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Artists
  • Exhibitions
  • Publications
  • Viewing Room
  • Store
  • Podcast
  • News
  • About
  • Contact
Cart
0 items £
Checkout

Item added to cart

View cart & checkout
Continue shopping
Menu

Artworks

Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Parviz Tanavoli, Last Poet of Iran, 1974
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Parviz Tanavoli, Last Poet of Iran, 1974

Parviz Tanavoli

Last Poet of Iran, 1974
Screenprint on paper
Signed, dated and editioned 'Parviz 74' lower left
Number 20 from an edition of 20
98.5 x 70 cm
38 3/4 x 27 1/2 in
Enquire
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EParviz%20Tanavoli%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ELast%20Poet%20of%20Iran%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E1974%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EScreenprint%20on%20paper%3Cbr/%3E%0ASigned%2C%20dated%20and%20editioned%20%27Parviz%2074%27%20lower%20left%3Cbr/%3E%0ANumber%2020%20from%20an%20edition%20of%2020%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E98.5%20x%2070%20cm%3Cbr/%3E%0A38%203/4%20x%2027%201/2%20in%3C/div%3E

Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) Parviz Tanavoli, Last Poet of Iran, 1974
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) Parviz Tanavoli, Last Poet of Iran, 1974
“The same themes that had interested me in Milan and Tehran showed up in my work in Minneapolis (1962-64), except that instead of Farhad, whom few would know in America,...
Read more
“The same themes that had interested me in Milan and Tehran showed up in my work in Minneapolis (1962-64), except that instead of Farhad, whom few would know in America, I chose the ‘Poet’ as a subject. The poet was either alone or alongside his beloved.

“In my imagination, he was the freest of all humankind. I consider him to be like birds in the sky, belonging everywhere. Sometimes I alternated themes, from the poet to the ‘Prophet’. But while the prophet, like the poet, was superior to the rest of humanity, he could not escape the yoke of obligation, and nothing symbolised such obligation better than the lock, which I would often hang from his body.

“In terms of form, these sculptures were little more than a few cylinders and cubes stacked atop one another. But the holes I pierced through them, and the writing I interspersed on the surfaces, distinguished them from conventional geometric shapes. Inspired by the idea that I was drawing closer to the unification of poetry and architecture, a combination I always aspired to, I leaned toward geometric shapes and architectural forms and away from soft lines and rounded volumes.”

Parviz Tanavoli, in Sherrill, ed., Works of Parviz Tanavoli, vol. 6, Poet (2014)
Close full details

Exhibitions

Grosvenor Gallery, London, Parviz Tanavoli, 1970s Prints, 26 April - 8 May 2021, No. 1, (illust. exh. cat. unpaginated, another edition)
Share
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
Privacy Policy
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2025 Grosvenor Gallery
Site by Artlogic
Join the mailing list
Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Twitter, opens in a new tab.
Instagram, opens in a new tab.
View on Google Maps

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Join Our Mailing List

Signup

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied to communicate with you in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.