Bahman Mohassess

Lady with Flowers is the portrait of an old homeless woman who used to collect flowers from the cemetery and sell them at Piazza Navona, near Mohassess’ residence in Rome. On seeing him she would always offer him a rose, he would always accept and in turn pay for the offering. When the woman ceased to occupy her habitual spot on the sidewalk, Mohasses, fearing that she had passed away, painted this large canvas to preserve her memory.

In keeping with Mohassess’ desire to beautify either the unseen, unseemly or unattractive - ultimately, to distort and challenge normative perceptions, this portrait furthers the understanding that the essence of his works were never necessarily about anguish, but rather of giving space and expression to what we often chose to ignore, about our surroundings or ourselves.

This extremely rare work is the first figurative work on canvas of this scale from Mohassess’ later period (in the 80s and 90s) to come to auction. 

Mohassess’ profile as a global modern master has solidified in recent years, with appreciation for all of his different artistic periods having developed significantly and we are deeply honoured to present this striking and poignant portrait to auction.