A Survey of the Impact of Oil Discovery on the Iranian Modernist Painters (1940-1980)

Discovery of oil in 1908 set in motion a series of fundamental changes in political, economic and cultural structure of contemporary society of Iran. Through concentrating on the art of painting, this study investigates the impact of the discovery of oil in the creation of works of art by the Iranian modernist painters and tend to answer these questions that has oil affected the creation of artworks by the Iranian modernist painters? If it has, what were the factors involved in the process? What position the southern oil-producing cities held for the modernist painters? Having referred to the press releases of the news agencies associated with the national oil company during the years 1940 to 1980, the survey endeavors to go through the published pieces of news and reports and study the artistic activities of modernist painters who lived temporarily or permanently in the southern oil-producing cities. In addition to the abovementioned press, we shall trace such impact in the works of the prominent painters of the country by referring to the history of Iran contemporary painting. Thus, the research shall be conducted employing a descriptive-historical approach and the desk study of library resources which have proven to be a proper method for attaining to the required information. The preliminary studies indicated that there is a great volume of pieces of news and reports in the art discipline that well display the dynamism of art and culture in the southern oil-producing cities. A major part of such artistic activities is related to cinema, theater, music and literature; however, the press released regarding the works of visual arts and the presence of modernist painters in oil-producing cities is significant. The first industrial cities of Iran emerged upon oil discovery. Due to the presence of western professionals, ethnic and racial minorities, the formation of urban middle class as well as the availability of various, modern and facilities, these cities turned into a proper venue for the presentation of the artworks created by the modernist Iranian painters. The remarkable presence of a significant number of Iranian modernist painters in these towns during 1940 to 1980 was indicative of their cultural progress. Some of these painters were hired by the Oil Company and settled in these cities while the favorable conditions prevailing in these cities including entertainment/cultural clubs, movie theaters and luxury restaurants as well as growth of middle class who were the main customers of artistic products encouraged some others to go there for selling their products. The reason for choosing these 40 years (1940 to 1980) is the establishment of Tehran’s first college of Fine Arts in 1940 as a venue for the pioneers of modernization movement in contemporary painting and the beginning of imposed war in 1980 with Iraq’s invasion that incurred irreparable damage to the southern oil-producing cities particularly Abadan; damages that have not yet been healed to date while keeping the memory of those good old pre-war days alive in the minds of the inhabitants of these cities. Although the discovery of oil has been the main factor leading to industrialization of Iran and the creation of southern oil-producing cities, but we should not forget that with Iran’s Constitutional Revolution, a new phase of tendency towards modernism emerged in the country and grew increasingly. With the reign of Pahlavid dynasty, Iran’s social structure underwent tremendous transformations. These transformations in art, especially painting, emerged with the establishment of Tehran’s college of Fine Arts. Although another school of fine arts called ‘Sanaye Mostazrafeh’ had already been established by Kamal-ol-Molk during the rule of Naser al-Din Shah of Qajar dynasty, but it was the graduates of Tehran Fine Arts College who, through their own efforts, turned to be the pioneers of visual arts in the and assisted the development of remarkable changes in Iran’s contemporary painting. Setting up art associations, such as ‘Fighting Cock Society’, organizing press conferences for enlightening the public people as well as the establishment of personal galleries, such as Apadana, to display artistic courage, are all among the instances of the contributions of these college students after entering Iran’s art community. As mentioned before, some of these modernist painters were directly or indirectly inspired by oil and created great artworks under the influence of this new phenomenon. Modernist painters such as Houshang Pezeshknia, Shokrolah Manzour and Iran Doroudi have illustrated oil facilities and the lives of people affected by this industry. In their paintings, they sometimes go beneath the outward physical existence of these cities and oil facilities, get into the lower layers of the towns and portray the pain and suffering of the workers and ordinary people. There were also other painters who utilized the opportunity provided herein to sell their works without leaving even a small trace of ‘oil’ in their works. Meanwhile, there were a few artists who held a critical outlook towards oil and chose the environmental consequences of oil pollution as a topic in their works. In this article, these painters will be investigated.