By Fatemeh (Blue) Abdollahzadeh

Art is a manifestation of an artist’s mental state, feelings and identity. Sometimes, somewhere between the works of two artists is a phantom conversation that goes beyond time and space. Two of the foremost women in contemporary Iranian art, Iran Darroudi and Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, created an idiom of their own. Stylistic differences aside, their works sense a conceptual connection. Here, we find out how this connection came to be and the themes that link the two artists.

Iran Daroudi/ Behold Where I Have Reached—To the Sky/ 300×200/ 1973

Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaian/ Untitled/ Mirror work, reverse glass painting, and plaster on wood/ 60×81/ Around the 1970s

Darroudi and Farmanfarmaian in the Mirror of Significance

Iran Darroudi’s luminously brushstroked art evokes a world between reality and dream. In her paintings, light moves through the canvas with swift brush gestures, melding with saturated hues to create realms that exist outside of temporality and spatiality. By contrast, the geometric forms and shards of mirror that Monir Farmanfarmaian uses to create her works bring a liquid and kinetic light into their composition. Her mirrors, by an endless refraction, are again in motion with the light, a world of linearity and repetition. Light is a central act in both artist’s artwork — but their approaches aren’t the same. Darroudi refracts light through her emotive brushwork on canvas, while Farmanfarmaian does so through the infinite reflections of her mirrors.

Iran Daroudi/ Thus to Transcend/ 138×138/ 1972

Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaian/ Untitled/ Mirror work, reverse glass painting on plastic/ 29×27/ 2017

The Idea of Light and Truth in Their Art

Plato, in his theory of the “world of ideas,” employed light as a metaphor for truth. In this view, Darroudi is using light to articulate moments of intuition and personal aesthetic experience, while the reflection and refraction of light in mirrors translate a universal and abstract verity for Farmanfarmaian. Darroudi’s emphasis on inner light and deep emotion creates a universe bursting with energy and motion. On the contrary, Farmanfarmaian depicts the existence of the ultimate and the infinite by application of mirrored reflections and geometric patterns.

Iran Daroudi/ As Pure as Love/ 297×183/ 1976

Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaian/ Mirror Sphere/ Mirror work, reverse glass painting on plaster and wood/ Qatar 25/ 2012

Time and Timelessness

The Connection Between Their Works and Ontology

Time in Darroudi’s paintings has a fluid, poetic quality. Using vibrant colors and special compositions, she taps moments hovering between being there and not being there. According to Henri Bergson, the French philosopher, there is a distinction between linear time (chronos) and intuitive time (durée). We can say that Darroudi’s works embrace the latter; they expand within a single moment rather than following a linear progression.

Through her geometric forms, Farmanfarmaian depicts timelessness and eternal continuity. And, finally, her repeating patterns turn time into justa loop, reminding a feeling of eternal recurring.

Iran Daroudi/ Being Dominance/ 298×181/ 1970

Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaian/ Shiraz (Glass Design) / Mirror Work and Plaster on Wood/ 150×72/ 2009

Two Paths, One Shared Essence

Iran Darroudi and Monir Farmanfarmaian each pursued the search for truth through different artistic approaches—one through light and emotion, the other through structure and reflection. Darroudi, with her fiery brushstrokes, creates a world charged with emotion, while Farmanfarmaian, through meticulously arranged geometric shapes, offers a profound vision of the geometry of existence and infinity.

On International Women’s Day, revisiting the works of these pioneering Iranian artists is not just a tribute to their achievements but also an opportunity to reflect on deeper concepts such as truth, light, time, and identity—ideas that, in the mirror of their art, find distinct yet harmonious expressions.

Iran Daroudi/ Tribute to Delmotteon/ 110×135/ 1976

Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaian/ Untitled/ Mirror work, reverse glass painting, and plaster on wood/ 5×60×35/ 2014