I enjoyed looking at these beautiful paintings. Of course, I do not know anything about the details of these paintings and the like; hence, I treat them as any uninformed audience; however, one does enjoy such beauty. It is a characteristic of humankind to have a healthy nature so that he or she appreciates beauty. Sometimes an individual may not understand why they enjoy it. For instance, a human being enjoys a beautiful voice, a beautiful piece of music, calligraphy, a good performance in the theatre or at a movie; he or she enjoys and is impressed by an outstanding, well-depicted painting and understands it, even though one might not be able to explain it. This is how I feel when I look at these paintings; however, since you--as the creators of these artistic works--are here and briefly explained, one enters a new world and benefits from it.
Artists enjoy traits that ordinary people usually don’t have, and if they use their artistic talents in a proper way it is greatly valued. Art is an amazing thing. Art, overall, cannot be properly described. Of course, many people have tried to offer a definition for works of art; and I have read them and seen them; however, artistic talent is a spiritual quality whose characteristics and benefits can be described, but not the art itself. Art is like a human’s soul. How can we define our souls? It is not possible to define the soul; one can only describe its benefits and effects. This is also true for the arts.
I also saw a few works by martyrs and veterans which are indeed very valuable. The works on Ashura, the morning and the evening of Ashura are truly precious. Each time I look at Mr. Farshchian’s painting—which he gave to me to look at a few years ago—I have cried. This is while my heart is filled with monodies of the morning and evening of Ashura. Who knows better than us what has been written, sung, and said about Ashura? They say people who are into this stuff, do not cry over hearing the monodies. But, even though I know the monodies of Ashura, Mr. Farshchian’s work is like a monody that makes us cry. What a precious, exquisite and meaningful piece of art, created by an artist that can incite such emotions! Some of the paintings I saw today truly moved me. They were truly beautiful and amazing.
September 01, 1993
*“The evening of Ashura” is a painting by world-famous Iranian artist Mahmoud Farshchian. The painting depicts Imam Hussain's family in grief upon the return of his horse without its rider. Mr. Farshchian created this piece of art when he was 16. Mr. Mahmoud Farshchian is a master of Persian painting and miniatures. Born in the city of Isfahan in Iran, he started to learn art, painting and sculpting at a very young age.
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