The work on display, belonging to a collection titled Unwritten, clearly reveals the worldview of Ali Akbar Sadeghi. It can be considered the essence of different periods of his work. In this work, Sadeghi benefits from a combination of modern perspective and symbols of Iran’s ancient culture. Applying a minimum amount of color, Sadeghi highlights the element of line to turn the work into a magnificent drawing. We must not ignore the fact, however, that the mysterious color of the sky and controlled small patches of color in the work play a significant role in creating a romantic atmosphere. In general, Ali Akbar Sadeghi clearly reveals influences of Persian painting and illustrated lithographs on his work. Perspective in this work is similar to what we have seen in landscapes of Persian painting. Various views of animals, trees, and other visual elements are seen together.
Ali Akbar Sadeghi’s knowledge of Persian literature and culture completes the design of this work. In fact, he taps into his knowledge of old Persian narratives in creating a breathtaking landscape that shows a hunting scene. Representation of animals can be seen in almost every period of Persian visual art, i.e. pre-historic art to Islamic art during the Timurid and Safavid periods. Animals are sometimes hunted by kings, as exciting scenes of hunting grounds show in works of pottery, Persian painting, and Persian rugs, and at times fight each other for survival. Thus the fight of the lion and gazelle has been depicted on one canvas, while animals running away from the hunter are portrayed in another, and two storks hunting fish in a pond are seen in another painting. It seems that amid all this chasing, only the birds on top of the trees are safe from the hunter unless a bird of prey flies over in a fearful breathtaking moment.
