Charles Hossein Zenderoudi
1937– · Tehran
Charles Hossein Zenderoudi is an Iranian-born painter and sculptor living in France who uses Persian letters and numbers as the material of modern painting. He is a painter working with letters, not a calligrapher of the classical tradition. Born in Tehran in 1937, he studied at the Tehran College of Decorative Arts in the 1950s under Marcos Grigorian and Parviz Tanavoli. His linocut 'Who is this Hossein the world is crazy about?' (1958), based on coffeehouse paintings of Karbala, made his name, and he became a leading figure of the Saqqakhaneh movement, which drew on Shia popular imagery and script. After a prize at the Tehran Biennial in 1960 he moved to Paris in 1961 and later took French nationality. In 1972 a Quran he decorated was published in Paris. His work is in the British Museum, MoMA and the Centre Pompidou. In 2008 his painting Tchahar-Bagh sold at Christie's Dubai for 1.6 million US dollars.
Achievements
- Made the linocut 'Who is this Hossein the world is crazy about?' (1958), British Museum 2011,6034.1.
- A founding figure of the Saqqakhaneh movement in Iranian modern art.
- His 'K+L+32+H+4. Mon pere et moi' (1962) is in the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
- Decorated a Quran published in Paris in 1972.
- His painting Tchahar-Bagh (1981) sold for 1.6 million US dollars at Christie's Dubai on 30 April 2008.
Taught by: Marcos Grigorian, Parviz Tanavoli
His work
The works of a living calligrapher are theirs: we show them only with their permission.
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Open Mashq Studio →Living calligraphers you can buy from — signed originals on paper, from AED 550: Anwar Alhulwani (Thuluth) · Ahmed Alhawary (Jali Thuluth, Naskh) · Rasha Kasim (Kufi).
Sources
- en.wikipedia: born 11 Mar 1937 Tehran; Tehran College of Decorative Arts; Saqqakhaneh; 1960 Tehran Biennial prize, Paris 1961; museum collections; awards list en.wikipedia.org
- ar.wikipedia: Arabic name; teachers Tanavoli and Grigorian; same collections and awards ar.wikipedia.org
- fa.wikipedia: entered the Tehran fine-arts school 1335 SH; pupil of Grigorian; Tanavoli's Atelier Kaboud; Quran published 1351 SH by Club du Livre, Paris, with a UNESCO book prize; Christie's Dubai Chaharbagh; museums; awards by year fa.wikipedia.org
- Meem Gallery biography: founder of Saqqakhaneh; teachers Grigorian and Tanavoli; MoMA acquired K+L+32+H+4 in 1963; Venice 1960 and Sao Paulo 1961; collections incl. Mathaf; lives in Malakoff, works in Meaux meemartgallery.com
- The Art Newspaper, June 2008: Tchaar-Bagh (1981) sold for $1.6m (estimate $200,000-250,000) at Christie's Dubai, 30 April 2008 theartnewspaper.com
- British Museum (Islamic world collection record, seen in search results): linocut on textile 'Who is this Hossein the world is crazy about?', 1958, museum no. 2011,6034.1 islamicworld.britishmuseum.org
Written by the MASHQ studio · last updated 2026-10-05. Further reading, the standard references in English: Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh University Press, 2006) · Annemarie Schimmel, Calligraphy and Islamic Culture (New York University Press, 1984) · Yasin Hamid Safadi, Islamic Calligraphy (Thames and Hudson, 1978).