Shah and the Russian Ambassador

Islamic Art Now: Contemporary Art of the Middle East
© Siamak Filizadeh
My gallery Comment Tag Order Photography*
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Shah and the Russian Ambassador

Series: Underground
Edition: 1/5

2014
Photographs
Inkjet print
59 1/16 × 39 3/8 × 1 1/4 in. (150.02 × 100.01 × 3.18 cm)
Purchased with funds provided by Kitzia and Richard Goodman through the 2016 Collectors Committee (M.2016.138.6)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

One of the many challenges of Nasir al-Din’s reign was the escalating interference of England and Russia as each sought control over traditional Persian territories....
One of the many challenges of Nasir al-Din’s reign was the escalating interference of England and Russia as each sought control over traditional Persian territories. In a pair of prints (see M.2016.138.5), Filizadeh ironically emphasizes the shah’s impotence against such foreign domination, personified by the ambassadors from these countries. Here, the Russian ambassador smugly holds aloft the better part of a large sturgeon from the Caspian Sea, while Nasir al-Din happily makes do with the tail end. The unequal division of the fish serves as a reminder of Russian designs to dominate the Caspian coast. The shah’s royal attire is now mixed with loose pants and fishing boots, combining his royal image with an outdoorsy persona for adventures in cultural diplomacy, or rather, for the Russian ambassador to have his way with the shah.
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Bibliography

  • Komaroff, Linda. In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: DelMonico Books-Prestel, 2018.