Persian Painting at Its Best

Book excerpt: About the Book This book is a collection of magnificent watercolor paintings of a famous Persian artist, Colonel M. Sarram. The book includes architectural monuments - churches and mosques - and marketplace in Esfahan, scenic views of the untraveled path through the Great Desert in central Persia and in southwest US, fascinating imaginary paintings, flower arrangements, and portraits of Reza Shah, as well as those of the artist and his family. Some of the paintings capture daily scenes and life routines that strangely enough sometimes play back in one's mind with the rich mixture of light, color and wind; a beggar waiting on a woman lighting candles, a man washing up for his afternoon prayer, two women carrying jugs of water on their shoulders in a severe sand storm, a woman's face covered with her hands at a seemingly spiritual moment, and the inviting reddish pomegranate offered in a traditional setting of plates.