Critical Interpretation of the Reconstruction of Fath Ali Shah's Motifs in Contemporary Iranian Artists `works According to “Qajar Court painting”

This study aims to address the works of the contemporary art which has allusions to the motifs of Qajar court painting and its adaptation to the effect of artistic discourses related to legitimizing the Qajar dynasty, to reveal the extension or rupture of dominant discourses in it.
The method used in the research is analytic-comparative. Also, according to the theoretical framework of the research, the approach used in presenting the research is part of Greenblatt's new historicism, which studies the discontinuities within the uniform flow of Qajar court painting and determines the direction of contemporary painting towards it. In general, it can be concluded that contemporary artists, by presenting a new look at the visible forms of the Fath Ali Shah Qajar, move towards a process that in some works, follows the visible forms confirming the monarchy. They do not return the Qajar and lead to its rupture as much as possible. But in some other works, by continuing the visible forms of the kings and the Qajar court painting discourse, they seek the discourse of identity with a new interpretation. In addition, some contemporary artists tend to be in the stream of globalization besides the Qajar court painting. According to the new historicism, one might say that some contemporary paintings with the new Qajar trend bring out the contradictory and sometimes paradoxical aspects of Fath Ali Shah’s image. Regardless of this aspect, some artists’ works are in the same orders and visual norms as the Qajar court painting. It can be said that sometimes what did not have a proper place to display in the Qajar period, for example the realm of folk art in the contemporary period, emerges. In this apparition, different effects found in the works of contemporary artists such as Saeed Khazaei and Hamed SadrArhami, and according to Greenblatt, a new text of history is textured. The context of history as a text emerges from the New-Qajar-oriented images, some of which are unbroken by the rules and principles of the visual norms of Qajar court painting, and some of which are to some extent broken. In addition, the impact of globalization shows national characteristics by emphasizing examples of specific cultures and art.  Therefore, examining the motifs of kings and the structures of royal-ruling power provides a good opportunity to analyze contemporary art by emphasizing this motif and identifying the factors that lead to it. Some contemporary works are in line with globalization and post-pop preoccupations.  As a result, the history and visual traditions of the Qajar kings in New Qajar art are not in opposition to the globalization of contemporary art, but in the hierarchy of its framework. However, as Fath Ali Shah's motif was the representative of order in the center of Qajar court painting, today it becomes the sign of pluralism.