Orientalist Art by Enzie Shahmiri

The Gypsy Fortune Teller

noreply@blogger.com (Enzie Shahmiri) — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:14:00 +0000

The Gypsy Fortune Teller
Size: 24" x 30"
Medium: Oil on Canvas

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Bashi Bazouk

noreply@blogger.com (Enzie Shahmiri) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:38:00 +0000

Oil on Canvas, measuring 30"x 40" painted by me after Jean Léon Gérôme's "Bashi Bazouk". For a larger view visit Enzie Shahmiri Portraits and Fine Art

Selfportrait

noreply@blogger.com (Enzie Shahmiri) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:39:00 +0000

This self-portrait was painted in 2000 after Jean Léone Gerome's "Veiled Circassian Beauty".

Funky Hat

noreply@blogger.com (Enzie Shahmiri) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:57:00 +0000

Funky Hat

I was drawn to this image when I saw the photo my friend Al Sadrpour took for the first time. He is part of my black and white series and measures 9" x 12" .

Since this site only contains my Orientalist Paintings please visit My Official Web Site to view my commissioned portrait work.

Iranian Man

noreply@blogger.com (Enzie Shahmiri) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:55:00 +0000

Iranian Man

The original photo was taken by Photo Journalist Alain Rempfer and I immediatley fell in love with this gentleman's laughter. It seems so genuine and brings a smile to everyone's face who sees the painting in person. Having lived in Iran for many years he also reminded me of the street vendors, who would gather around and tell numerous jokes to each other. Passing such a gathering always left you wondering about what was so funny and wishing you could have listend in.

I used oils and painted the piece on a panel measuring 20"x16"

To view a larger version of this painting go to my web site
Iranian Man

Princess of the East

noreply@blogger.com (Enzie Shahmiri) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:20:00 +0000

Amal

This little "Princess of the East" is Amal, who lives in Pakistan. The photo was taken by her uncle Kamran, who is a photographer. I absolutely fell in love with this little girl and had a heck of a time choosing one photo out of many great shots. She is so stunningly beautiful!

If you like to see and read about how I created this painting visit
World Market Portraits

Blue Tribe

noreply@blogger.com (Enzie Shahmiri) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:44:00 +0000

Blue Tribe

The painting of "Blue Tribe" was inspired by the Kuchi Headdress that Denise Piggin, A British costume designer, created. To read more about the creation of this painting visit
World Market Portraits

Petite Somme

noreply@blogger.com (Enzie Shahmiri) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 15:54:00 +0000

Petite Somme Oil Painting after Frederick Arthur Bridgeman

I loved the colors in the original painting and since the girl looked a lot like my daughter, I decided to paint it.

My painting measures 30" x 40" and is oil on canvas.

Fruit Vendor

noreply@blogger.com (Enzie Shahmiri) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 06:46:00 +0000

Fruit Vendor by Enzie Shahmiri

This paintings is done in oil on panel and measures 12" x 16" .
It depicts a merchant going through a sack of nuts in his fruit stall.

Bashi Bouzouk

noreply@blogger.com (Enzie Shahmiri) — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 18:00:00 +0000

Bashi Bouzouk by Enzie Shahmiri
Full Size

The image above is the painting I did after Jean-Léone Gérômé "Bashi Bouzouk" and below you can see the original.

Bashi Bazouk by Jean Léone Gérômé

I always loved the colors in this painting. The beautiful salmon colored garment and the hat with it's multicolored tassles were a lot of fun to paint and I am rather happy with the results.

Poppy Field

noreply@blogger.com (Enzie Shahmiri) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:07:00 +0000

Poppy Field by Enzie Shahmiri

Full Size

Signed and dates Enzie Shahmiri, 2004

Poppy Field

30 x 40 in oil on canvas/ huile sur toile

This is a painting I had done a while ago titled "Poppy Field" and I recently received an inquiry about the symbolism involved in this piece. First, I should say that the pose was inspired by one of my favorite Old Master's William Adolphe Bouguereau. When I started, I knew that some Middle Eastern themes should get incorporated and the shoes, the prayer amulet and scarf are all items that belong to me. To create the setting, the forested region of the Caspian Sea came to mind. Full of beautiful lush fields, I used that as the background and added some eastern tilework on the old wall, to further enhance the locality. Then I wanted to tell a story why this little girl is sitting in an empty field of poppies.

So let's do some poppytalk ...

Traditionally the vibrant red poppy was a popular emblem of country life and summer’s richness. Fields of poppies were a favored scene of Impressionist Claude Monet, as in this painting “Coquelicots,or Poppies Near Argenteuil” (1873).

The delicate flower may not be favored for cutting and for arrangements because it fades quickly, but no one can deny its colorful appeal. For a long time it was used for beneficial purposes, prepared as an infusion, with added sugar, as a remedy for colds and deep coughs. Today, however, because of modern farming practices, the wild scarlet poppy has just about vanished. Afghanistan and Iran still have poppy fields, though, although they are also on the decline.

Because of its narcotic properties, the poppy is sometimes used as a symbol of sleep, oblivion, or indifference. The Minoan poppy goddess wears the poppy seed capsules, a source of narcosis, in garlands in her hair. In ancient Roman mythology, Somnus, the god of sleep, is always crowned with poppies or lying surrounded by them. The Greek goddess of the harvest, Demeter, created the poppy as a means of getting some sleep after the loss of her dear daughter, Persephone. The twin brothers Hypnos and Thanatos (gods of sleep and death) are typpically represented as crowned with poppies or carrying poppies in their hands.

In Christian art, the poppy is used in depictions of the Passion of Christ or as a reference to sleep or death. In the Greek Orthodox church, crimson poppies represent the blood of Christ on the cross on his journey to Golgotha.

The unique poet, artist, and mystic William Blake produced a set of beautiful watercolors to illustrate "The Grave," a 1743 Gothic poem by the Scottish writer Robert Blair about death and redemption. In this painting “The Grave Personified” (1805), he depicts a moth-winged, muscular female nude dangling poppy-heads from her outstretched arms.

Source:
Dumas, Anne. Book of Plants and Symbols. London: Hachette, 2000.

My little girl is meant to be a country girl, and as the prayer roll around her waist implies, she is wishing for s.th and caught in a state of day dreaming. She is indifferent to the world, does not see the butterfly that flies towards her, but is lost in dreams. We don't know what she is wishing for or thinking about, we have only caught her in a solitary moment of being lost in another world all to her own.

More on Flower Symbolism in Art