Ali Akbar Sadeghi Iranian, b. 1937

Ali Akbar Sadeghi (b. 1937, Tehran, Iran) is an iconic figure in Iran’s art history, celebrated for his various contributions across multiple artistic disciplines. An established master known around the world, he continues new directions in his art. He graduated from the Fine Art Faculty at the University of Tehran during its golden age, a time when many remarkable Iranian artists flourished. Sadeghi blended elements and motifs of traditional Iranian painting with modern art, creating a unique visual language that has been a source of influence for young artists across generations.

Ali Akbar Sadeghi started his artistic career as an illustrator. He worked with various newspapers and magazines, including the "Asia" newspaper. He designed several movie posters and created stained-glass murals for Tehran’s Roudaki Hall. Alongside other artists, he co-founded the Film and Animation Department at the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in 1970. He illustrated numerous books, winning first prize in Asia’s best illustrations category for "Hero of Champions," created several animations, and participated in more than 50 film and book festivals.

In 1977, he set aside filmmaking to make painting his primary medium. Considering himself a storyteller, paintings of Sadeghi are intricately detailed, bustling with energy and characters, and they are often large-scale. His colorful, dream-like narratives draw from the Qahveh-Khanh ("Coffee-house") painting traditions, Iranian miniatures, and Western surrealism. Self-portraiture holds a special place in his wide range of paintings and sculptures. His strong presence as a storyteller demonstrates his focus not only on reviving traditions but also on personalizing the histories of both Iranian and Western art. With this approach, he weaves the past and the present, the real and the fantastical, and the visual and the sociopolitical together to create works that keep the viewer’s gaze engaged indefinitely.