Kazem Ordoobadi

Kazem Ordoobadi [In Persian کاظم اردوبادی.] is one of the last figures among the painters associated with the school founded in Iran by Mohammad Ghaffari, better known as Kamal-ol-Molk (1847-1939) one of Iran’s most celebrated master-painters. Kamal-ol-Molk stayed in France and Italy in the last years of the nineteenth century to study the works of Europe’s greatest artists. Kamal-ol-Molk style, inspired by his stay in Europe, is based on Realism and Naturalism. He founded the School of Fine Arts (Mostazrafe) in 1908 where European style of painting was taught together with Iran’s traditional painting. This was a breakthrough in the Iranian painting that for centuries was dominated mainly by “miniature” used in illustration and decoration of books.

Biography

Kazem Ordoobadi, born in 1919 to Mohammad-Hassan Company and his wife RafiehOrdoobadi, was the youngest of their 4 children. His paternal grandfather HajMohammad Tajer and his maternal grandfather Haj Abbas Ordoobadi, both emigratedfrom Nakhijevan, then in Tsarist Russia, to Iran and settled in Shiraz for trade.

Ordoobadi started painting when he was in high-school. His family had a long history ofartists. His father was a skilled calligrapher and had written in the exquisite Nastealiq (PerB|نستعلیق)style several works of great Iranian poets. His cousin Khalil Negargar was a refinedwatercolor painter.

Ordoobadi’s earliest extant work is a small watercolor painting on a cardboard dated1941, when he was 22 years old. The perfect use of colors and space shows that healready mastered his art. Later Ordoobadi’s acquaintance with Ostad Mahmoud Olia, adistinguished disciple of Kamal-ol-Molk, opened new horizons to him. Ordoobadi paintedseveral portraits of personalities, family members and friends. The origin of his interest inportraits should be sought in the influence of Mahmoud Olia. In particular his earlierworks come very close to the works of his master in terms of technique, lighting andcolor rendition. However he gradually gained assurance and departed from his mastertowards a more personal style.

The influence of Olia however remained intact in Ordoobadi’s pencil drawings. To cite afew examples one could mention his pencil drawing copy of Murillo’s “Inmaculada deSoult” or Rembrandt’s “self-portrait”. These works demonstrate the dexterity of the artistusing his pencil to give life to lines and shades.

In Ordoobadi’s early oil paintings the inspirations of Olia could also be seen in theselection of colors, movements and brush strokes. His oil paintings evolved later whenhe got interested in landscapes and painted a number of works of the Russian realistpainter Ivan Shishkin. The influence of realist landscape painters is visible in his laterworks depicting the life of Qashqai nomads of Fars in their natural environment.

Later on, Ordoobadi started studying impressionism and found a great interest in thatschool. He was impressed by the freedom in brush strokes, transparent colors andstrong lights used by the masters. He painted several works of the French impressionistpainter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and his later works were greatly influenced by this school.
Ordoobadi painted portraits of a selection of personalities which include outstandingfigures associated with cultural and artistic circles of his time. His portraits of FereydounTavallali (celebrated poet), Mirza Kazemi and Hashem Javid (man of letters), NaserNamazi (painter), Mohammad-Reza Moharreri (artist and doctor) etc. are witnesses ofOrdoobadi’s active participation to the dynamic cultural and literary life of Shiraz.

After Obtaining his bachelor’s degree in Physics in university of Tehran Ordoobadistarted his professional life as a high-school teacher. He taught Physics and Art to high schoolstudents in Shiraz for thirty years. He acted as director of the Audio-Visualinstitute with the mission of taking culture to the heart of Fars province’s villages andnomad regions. During his numerous trips to the remote areas of Fars he studiednomads’ lifestyle and painted some of the scenes of their day-to-day life. Later he wasappointed as director of Archeological Institute of Fars and helped to preserve thecultural heritage and historical treasures of ancient Iran. Ordoobadi passed away in 2002at age of 83.

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