Hossein Mahjoobi is famous for his paintings of flowering trees, loose horses in the nature, and tiled rooftops in northern Iran. Minimalizing the nature and watching the landscape that everyone else simply takes for granted, Mahjoobi creates a world of his own. He is a modernist landscape painter whose paintings of Western landscapes also convey his signature style and evoke his birth place, Gilan Province. Aydin Aghdashloo once wrote, “Whenever we see those tall trees that crosshatch the cloudy sky, diagonal crosshatched red tiles of the rooftops, and free moving horses, we think of Mahjoobi. His visual world comprises a simple yet complicated structure. He skillfully applies diluted paint to represent a pleasing mellow world capable of expressing nostalgic feelings and a yearning to evoke memories as well as faraway stunning landscapes.”
Mahjoobi has often emphasized that his objective of representing the beauty of lush green nature is to remind spectators how greedy mankind has been in destroying the planet Earth. He is concerned about destruction of the nature. Mahjoobi says, “I am often preoccupied with a few issues. One of them is war that leaves so much destruction behind. The other issue is technological advancements and a mechanical life that have greatly contributed to human life yet taking him away from the nature and robbing him of his peaceful life by creating psychological traumas. Another thing is the man’s role in destroying the nature as well as plant and animal species, whereas they have an equal right to live on Earth. Unlike natural waste that is easily absorbed by earth, human waste has turned into a significant threat for life on Earth.”
Paintings of Mahjoobi are not mere representations of the nature though. A proponent of abstract painting, Mahjoobi attaches so much significance to space, rhythm, and movement. Tall poplars, horses and houses seem to be merely excuses for Mahjoobi to employ such visual elements. As we can see in the painting, long lines of poplars, circular shape of other trees, and the horizon seem to have produced a stunning landscape.
Fine lines of trees and soft fluid brushstrokes that depict horses evoke Persian painting. Using a modern visual language, Mahjoobi has incorporated into his work a stylistic application of lines and points that is seen in various schools of Persian painting.
