Iranian painter Kamalolmolk and his descendants get permanent exhibit

TEHRAN,Nov.5(MNA) -- The Malek Museum and Library held a grand opening for its new permanent exhibition of artworks created by the Qajar era painter Mohammad Ghaffari, known as Kamalolmolk, and his descendants here on Wednesday. The museum has dedicated the new section to a number of artworks including ten paintings by the artist along with eight works by members of the Ghaffari family who are Kamalolmolk’s descendants, director of the museum Mojtaba Hosseini told . The idea for the exhibit was initiated over 10 years ago at which time works by Kamalolmolk kept in seven different museums across the country were recognized and documented, Hosseini said. The articles and documents discovered about the Ghaffari family were also gathered and posted on a website that was launched in May, he said, adding that there is still more information to be added over the years. Also included is an exhibition of images of over 100 works by the painter, the originals of which are kept at the Golestan Museum and at the Niavaran and Sadabad cultural historical complexes, he mentioned. Hosseini next pointed to the recent discovery of ten black and white photographic negatives featuring Kamalolmolk and several others also on display at the exhibit. The negatives had been preserved by Abolhassan Seddiqi (1894-1995), the sculptor of great Iranian luminaries like Ferdowsi and Khayyam. Seddiqi was one of the students of the art school supervised by Kamalolmolk. The developed negatives show Kamalolmolk among his students and guests at the school posing proudly for a photo in front of the camera, as well as three photos showing copies of works by the master. Born in Kashan, Mohammad Ghaffari (1847-1940) left his hometown and was admitted to Dar-ul-Fonun, the Iranian polytechnic institute established in 1851. Qajar king Nasser ad-Din Shah (1831–1896) saw one of his works at Dar-ul-Fonun and took him to the royal court and dubbed him first Naqqashbashi (Master of Painters) and then Kamalolmolk (Excellence of the Country). Kamalolmolk was forced into exile in an abandoned village near Neyshabur due to his inclination toward the Constitutional Movement. He died in exile and his body was buried in the courtyard of the tomb of the Iranian poet Attar in Neyshabur.