Mohammad Ehsai
1939– · Iranian calligrapher and painter, a pioneer of modern calligraphic painting
Seyed Mohammad Ehsai (born 29 June 1939) is an Iranian calligrapher, painter, graphic designer and university teacher. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern Iranian calligraphic painting, known in Persian as naqqashi-khatt, in which Persian and Arabic letterforms are treated as visual and abstract elements.
Born in Qazvin, he moved with his family to Tehran at the age of six. He developed an early interest in Persian calligraphy and studied with the calligrapher Gholam Hossein Amirkhani. Before going to university he taught literature and calligraphy in Tehran schools and worked as a calligrapher and graphic designer for the Iranian Red Lion and Sun Society and the national textbook organisation.
He studied painting and graphic design at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran, later joining its teaching staff, where he introduced courses on the graphic and visual qualities of calligraphy. He also taught at other Iranian art institutions.
His work blends the discipline of traditional Persian and Islamic calligraphy with the compositional principles of modern painting and graphic design. He often enlarges, repeats or interlaces letters until their meaning gives way to rhythm, colour and form. His non-traditional works are usually grouped into two main bodies: the calligraphic paintings and the Eternal Alphabet series, in which words and letters become monumental abstract structures, often in bright colours against dark grounds. He has also produced traditional calligraphy in scripts such as Nastaʿlīq, shekasteh nastaʿlīq, thuluth and muhaqqaq, including major projects such as manuscripts of the Divan of Hafez and the Quran. His work is held in the British Museum and in several Iranian public collections.