Tuesday, January 5, 2010

An Iranian painting on a warm gray wall.


I had completely forgotten that I had established this blog site. This is a photo of a beautiful painting by an unknown Iranian from the early 1950s. It is flanked by four photos that Phil took during his trip to Iran in 2007. Those four are bracketed by two small paintings in mosaic frames. It is the most elegant arrangement in our house. The Iranian painting appears to depict a scene from an unidentified poem and may be of a brothel or of a suitor approaching the house of his bride to be. It seems to have been painted on parchment. Some areas are in relief and there is much gilding. There is calligraphic writing in various places, but I don't know if it is to inform the images or not. The painting was a gift from a new friend at an unexpected moment and I love that he knew that I would love it.

Anais Nin

I lived in Los Angeles when Anais Nin lived in a house in Echo Park.                    an invisible house. a triangular corner above ...