Shirazi Artist’s Works Added to National Heritage List

Date: 13 November 2020 - 21:21

News ID: ۸۴۷۸۱

TEHRAN (HONARONLINE) – Sixteen  artworks by Aqa Lotfali Suratgar have recently been inscribed on the National Heritage List.
The collection includes 16 artworks in the various fields of the Persian painting – miniature, which is preserved at the Pars Museum in Shiraz, the hometown of the artist, the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ministry (CHTHM) announced on Wednesday.
He had his own unique style in Persian painting, and was very skillful in drawing the floral motifs in this field.
He illustrated many stories from the Shahnameh, the epic masterpiece of Persian poet Ferdowsi, some of which have been selected for the collection registered by the CHTHM. The Reza Abbasi Museum alone holds 55 paintings of Shahnameh stories by Suratgar.
Several pen cases embellished with floral motifs by Suratgar are preserved in some Iranian collection, including the Reza Abbasi Museum in Tehran.
In addition, his paintings also enrich collections that are on display in museums in Leningrad, Paris and several other cities.
Most of the great ceiling paintings decorating the porch in Narenjestan Garden, a Qajar-era monument in Shiraz, were created by Suratgar.
His art also embellished covers of several rare books, which are kept at the Malek National Library and Museum, Golestan Palace, and the National Library and Archives of Iran.
He left the sense of art in his family as a legacy. His son, Mirza Mohammad-Ali Kahn, who was also known as Masud ul-Molk, was an outstanding calligrapher in Shiraz. In addition, his grandchild who was named after his grandfather Lotfali Suratgar, was a renowned poet and translator.
Aqa Lotfali Suratgar died in ca. 1870 and is buried in the Dar us-Salam Cemetery in Shiraz.
The CHTHM has recently registered two paintings by Mohammad-Hossein Shirazi, another artist who lived during the Qajar period, on the National Cultural Heritage list.
The artworks are also preserved at the Pars Museum.