Much of Parviz Tanavoli’s visual inspiration comes from Persian culture, the reality, myth and legend. The country’s rich poetic heritage, textile traditions and architecture, all feed into his sculptural works. As part of the Saqqakhaneh School of artists, he was part of the vanguard bringing modernism to Iran and creating an indigenous form of contemporary art. Common themes in Tanavoli’s work include poets, prophets, locks, lions, lovers, cages and birds.

Tanavoli’s obsession with the poetry and oral traditions of Iran is manifest in this early, large-scale, unique sculpture from 1960. Three discs sit one on top of the other, in a totemic form. The surface of each is marked with symbols and forms referencing ancient scripts and symbols. In the late 1950s Tanavoli studied in Rome, returning to Iran in 1960. From 1961-1964 he was living and studying in the USA at the Minneapolis College of Arts and Design. He held one-man exhibitions there in 1962 and 1963, return to Iran in 1964 to establish a foundry and to teach at Tehran University.

Tanavoli on his work inspired by Poetry:
"I began with poetry. And then when I started making sculpture I wrote my poetry on the surface of the sculpture. I made two series, poets and prophets, from the very beginning... In a way they are both the same, or at least they become the same in the end. [Around 1964] I was making these. The poet was a man with all the freedom. Opposite the poet was the prophet, with all the restrictions, very religious and confined. But in the end, the poet became a prophet and the prophet became a poet."