Art in Persian Rugs

A decade ago I worked with young children and found a pair of children whose drawings always left an impression.

The first child had remarkable ideas and the concept contained in the drawing was always outstanding. But the poor child did not have any skill in actually ‘drawing’ out his thoughts. The overall art was ugly – but thought provoking.

And then there was the other child. Who drew really pretty pictures – perfect proportions, perfect line formations, pleasing figures and clean lines. The picture always looked pleasant and appealing but the thinking contained in that was average.

And so I’d wish that each could borrow the better part from the other and combine it to create a perfect piece – one that was thought provoking as well as pretty.

***

Some silk rugs joined me in my early collecting days and as time passed, I grew more and more inclined to tribal rugs. That also meant I forgot about my silk rugs and put them behind me. I gravitated more to rugs created by simple women working  a few lines at a time, in the midst of their household and their homemaker lives. And felt less appreciative of anything that was created by professional artisans.

In a recent stock taking exercise, I rediscovered these. And saw once again why I had acquired them.

I had made the mistake of falling prey to a kind of infradig  sentiment that if it is ‘fine” it does not have soul.

The fresh view of these rugs showed me that these rugs, fine as they are, DO have soul:

A few images:

1. A HUNTING RUG / SILK ON SILK / QUM – PERSIA

2. TREE OF LIFE RUG – by Rug artist Masumi

Note the sensuous intertwining of the trees – symbolic of Khuld and the Garden of Eden

3. OLD MAN

The next rug is a very special one to me. It is a figurative rug of an old villager – just watching the world go by. Nothing escapes his shrewd vision.

When an artist signs a piece of work, he does it with pride. He loves what he has produced and the artwork has made him very very fulfilled. If the viewer, like me, could not appreciate it, it was probably because I had missed something! After all these years, I have see their beauty once more!

All of these signed works of art are a part of the WOVENSOULS collection

jm

Aug 2013

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