Untitled 1996

Javad Hamidi painted this untitled scene, probably in oil, with strokes that feel both deliberate and dreamy. Imagine him, brush in hand, working through the cool blues of the sky down to the sun-drenched green of the meadow. The paint is applied in such a way that each stroke builds up to create texture and depth. See those women, maybe gathering flowers? I bet Hamidi thought a lot about them, their quiet purpose in this landscape. The composition is so interesting, and I wonder if the artist’s thinking about organizing space had anything to do with Persian miniatures. The sheep in the foreground seem to step out of a long tradition of pastoral painting. It’s like Hamidi is having a conversation with artists of the past while finding his own way of seeing. This painting is a testament to how artists keep each other company across time, remixing and reimagining.