ArtDayMe – The Raha Gallery Middle East Collection, Founded and directed by engineer Mohammadreza Ghaemmaghami, has been actively committed to cultural engagement in the region for over two decades. The collection preserves a rich array of modern and contemporary masterpieces by both Iranian and Arab artists.

Among its treasures is this celebrated untitled painting by Nasser Ovissi, executed in mixed media on canvas, measuring 70×100 cm. 

Ovissi (born 1934, Tehran) is a prominent figure of the Saqqakhaneh School and a lasting icon of Iranian modernism. Likely the only Iranian artist to have exhibited with Salvador Dalí during Dalí’s lifetime in Spain, Ovissi recalls that the response to his work was so overwhelming that every piece he showed was sold. 

His signature style features beautiful women inspired by the folkloric Khorshid Khanom, powerful horses in motion, and vibrant colors.

Ovissi has received numerous awards from international biennales and exhibitions, and his works reside in museums in Athens, Barcelona, Belgrade, Brussels, Rome, Madrid, New York, Paris, London, Zurich, Berlin — and, of course, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. The renowned Italian art critic Giulio Carlo Argan once described Ovissi’s painting style as “poetic, holding itself suspended between painting and calligraphy.”

In this radiant canvas, part of the Raha Gallery Middle East Collection, the viewer steps into a world where tradition and modernity, poetry and painting, movement and music are woven together in a spellbinding harmony.

Since the 1960s, Ovissi has developed his unique visual language by merging traditional motifs, calligraphy, and vibrant colors — and here, he delivers that artistic signature in all its glory. The composition rests on a vertical axis: a female musician rides a noble horse, her direct gaze pulling the viewer into the heart of the scene. Bold black lines, reminiscent of calligraphic strokes, define the forms and structure the visual space. The interplay between the curves of the woman’s and horse’s bodies and the angularity of the instrument and the decorative column on the right creates a rhythmic balance.

Blue dominates — the spirit and essence of the piece — while red accents in the cheeks, horse’s ornaments, and woman’s ribbons pulse with warmth and guide the eye to the core of the image. White calligraphy flows over the woman’s garments and the horse’s body like a spiritual light, imbuing the work with poetic texture.

Every element here carries symbolic weight: the musician as a source of inspiration, the horse as a sign of nobility and movement, the instrument as a bridge between image and music, the bird atop the column as a messenger of freedom. Together with the Saqqakhaneh-inspired calligraphy, they enrich the painting’s cultural and spiritual resonance.

Executed with free brushstrokes and translucent layers, the technique blurs the line between painting and graphic art. Form and text intertwine so completely that the viewer lingers between reading and seeing — a hallmark of Ovissi’s work.

The result is a poetic, nostalgic atmosphere where serenity and vitality coexist. This painting is not only part of Ovissi’s personal visual narrative, but also a vivid example of how Iranian identity can merge seamlessly with the language of contemporary art — a journey through the boundless blue realm of imagination, somewhere between ancient tales and limitless dreams.

This work is part of the Raha Gallery Middle East Collection.