The formidable dread that we see in Mohasses’s figurative paintings is in some ways also reflected in his still-lifes. The still-life is the secret, hidden garden of Mohasses’s mind, where he can concentrate his artistic viewpoint on the subject at hand. It seems as though, more than any other artist, Mohasseshas preserved the place of the still-life in modern Iranian painting. In the same way that Cezanne’s arrangements of bowls and baskets of fruit with his pre-cubistic view is regarded as the zenith of Early Modernism, BahmanMohasses’s expressionistic perspective, and his own personal creative process present in his work displayed here, consolidates a place for this subject matter within Iranian Modernism.
The individual elements present in this work take on a flat yet illusionary feel. The bright colors and the green and red ink have an inner radiance. Mohasses’s existentialist perspective towards nature and being is well represented with his distortion of images and his use of color; in this way he shows us that the essence of everything is invaluable. His vision gives character to his subjects, even inanimate ones such as fruit and bamboo stalks, and rises to an excellence which this work completely exemplifies. Many questions come to mind when viewing Mohasses’s work, especially ones concerning the type, nature and placement of the materials. By closely observing this piece, we clearly feel that the painting stretches to the rainclouds of a distant shore on the horizon, and that we are witnesses to the ever-present symbolism of BahmanMohasses’s art.