Fereydoun Rahimi Assa, Modernist Persian Iranian Middle Eastern Abstract Fereydoun Assa Oil Painting

Fereydoun (Fred) Rahimi Assa (Iranian, b. 1936)
“Lonely Soul in Desert”
Oil and mixed media on canvas, Hand signed lower left
Framed : 40-1/2″h x 30-1/2″w
Sight: 40″h x 30″w Made with metallic foil or paint, the patchwork-like piece bears geometric designs and symbols.

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Fereydoun Rahimi Assa (b. 1936) moved to Tehran at the age of three. He attended the College of Decorative Arts, Tehran in the same year group as well-known formidable masters, Hossein Zenderoudi and Massoud Arabshahi.
After being awarded a travelling scholarship in 1964, Rahimi-Assa went to Israel for three months of study. Although Rahimi-Assa saw success through the several exhibitions he held in Israel, unable to secure a long-term visa and not keen to return to Iran, he found himself in the US – in no small part, thanks to the help of Eric Azari in obtaining a long-term residency visa.
Fred Rahimi-Assa went first to New York and later settled in New Jersey. While in New York, he worked in some capacity at Columbia University’s Painting department where he also exhibited several times, including a solo show in 1968. In the same year, Rahimi-Assa participated in a group exhibition of Modern Persian painting, sponsored by the Centre for Iranian Studies at Columbia University – founded that year by Professor Ehsan Yarshater (Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies, Columbia University). After moving out of the City, to New Jersey in the 1970s, Rahimi Asa continued to exhibit with local institutes and organized art seminars in the homes of various artists.
His work was included in the Middle East auction held by Sotheby’s. It includes pioneering artists such as Egyptian Mahmoud Mokhtar, Moroccan modernism, Mohamed Melehi, Lebanese Huguette Caland and Bahman Mohasses.
He has also been sold in Christie’s Middle Eastern Modern and Contemporary sale. With Farhad Moshiri, Faramarz Pilaram, one of the founders of the Saqqakhaneh movement that brought together modern art and Persian calligraphy. Ismail Shammout, Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim and Shaikha Al Mazrou, Huguette Caland, Monir Farmanfarmaian, Shirin Neshat and Inji Aflatoun.
His work was in the famed Azari collection of Sheila and Eric Azari that encapsulated Modern Iranian art from the 1960s, including pieces by those part of the Saqqakhaneh movement, such as Sohrab Sepehri and Massoud Arabshahi.