Gholamhossein Saber

• Native Name — غلامحسین صابر • Born — 20 December 1941 • Birthplace — Shiraz, Iran • Education — Bachelor of Arts in History and Geography • Alma Mater — Shiraz University • Known for — Painting, photography, teaching art • Style — Realism, expressionism, impressionism, post-impressionism • Spouse — Zahra Entezari • Children — Nima Saber, Omid Saber

Saber was born in 1941 in Shiraz, Iran, to Mohammad Hassan and Rezvan Saber. His great-grandfather, Mirza Mehdi Saber, who was contemporary with Mohammad Shah Qajar and Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, was a poet and a calligrapher. Saber's talent and interest in painting was noticed by his school teachers from an early age. While still in grade 10, he was convinced he wanted to become an artist. At the suggestion of his sister, he enrolled in weekly private lessons with Khalil Negargar, a Shirazi painter indirectly influenced by Kamal-ol-molk. Negargar taught him the basics of making oil paint from color pigments, building canvases, and copying from the old masters' works, a common practice among the painters of that period in Iran. He also recounted stories about the great painters, particularly Raphael, Titian, and Rembrandt, inspiring the young student and further fanning the flames of his passion for art. In a group exhibition of students works, where Saber had submitted a copy of a portrait by Repin, he met Jahangir Mehraban-poor, a medical student and a friend of Saber's sister. Jahangir was a well-read person, knew English, and painted in his free time. Jahangir told Saber that copying was a waste of time and encouraged him to draw and paint from real life and the people on the street. The two became friends and started going out for live sketches. In 1960, after finishing high school, Saber was admitted to the History and Geography Bachelor's program in the Faculty of Literature of the Shiraz University. The university's scholarly and innovative environment offered him a broader and deeper perspective of the world. He made new friends among the university students, discovered writers he didn't know about before, and got familiar with classical music. Starting in 1960, the University of Pennsylvania was assisting the Iranian government in modernizing Pahlavi University based on American-style higher education. Consequently, the university's central library was going through a major upgrade, acquiring large collections of English books, including a large number of books on visual arts. Saber spent a lot of time in the library, studying the works of the old masters. Gradually, he became acquainted and fascinated with the Impressionists, particularly Monet, and Camille Pissarro. Saber graduated with a B.A. in History and Geography in 1964. The next year he completed a one-year program at the Tehran Teacher Training University (later renamed to Kharazmi University) to qualify for employment by the Ministry of Education.

Upon completion of the program in 1965, he was hired as a high school teacher by the Ministry of Education and was transferred to Khoramshahr, a small inland port city on the eastern shore of the Karoun river. The three years he spent in Khorramshahr were very critical in his career development as an Impressionist artist. At the same time, the paintings from that period have a strong Realistic and Expressionist bent and reflect the struggles and the sufferings of the people within the vast and rich landscapes of the South. In 1968, he was transferred to his hometown, Shiraz, and started teaching art, history, and geography at Mehrayeen and Shapoor high schools. He continued painting in his free time. As in the Khorramshahr years, his early Shiraz works, especially his portraits, with darker colors and strong brush strokes, had a certain Expressionistic look. Starting with mid-seventies, he gradually abandoned that approach. His colors become more vivid and he developed a refined, Pre-Raphaelite-like, style, while employing an Impressionist palette. During the eighties, this disposition towards more vivid and pure colors continues and solidifies into a unique Impressionist and Pointillist style owed as much to the blazing Sun and the dazzling sky of the Fars province.

• Illustration — Old Woman, 1963, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Villagers Huts in Khoramshahr, 1965, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Boat on Karun, 1966, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Boats on Karun, 1966, Oil on canvas • Illustration — The Gamblers, 1966, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Still Life, 1971, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Madman, 1972, Oil on canvas

• Illustration — Sara, 1975, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Girl in the Studio, 1976, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Rokhsareh, 1976, Pastels • Illustration — Self Portrait, 1977, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Thorns, 1980, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Zahra, 1981, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Asphalt Workers, 1983, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Sunset, 1984, Oil on canvas • Illustration — In the Garden, 1986, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Nomad Women, 1987, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Leila, 1988, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Posht-e-Moleh, 1988, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Portrait of Zahra, 1988, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Fig Tree, 2004, Watercolor • Illustration — Autumn, 2005, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Winter, 2005, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Leila K. 2007, Oil on canvas • Illustration — A Landscape, 2011, Oil on canvas • Illustration — North West Landscape, 2019, Pastels • Illustration — Self Portrait, 2019, Pastels • Illustration — Country Kids, 2020, Pastels • Illustration — Country Girls, 2020, Pastels • Illustration — Stormy Clouds, Calgary, 2021, Oil on canvas • Illustration — Doshman-Ziyari, 2021, Pastels

• Vesal Gallery, Shiraz, Iran, 2019 • Meshkinfam Art Museum, Shiraz, Iran, 2005 • Sabz Gallery, Tehran, Iran, 1997 • Seyhoun Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran, 1983 • Group show at Sheikh Art Gallery, Tehran, 1977 • Vesal Art Gallery, Shiraz, 1977 • Vesal Art Gallery, Shiraz, 1975 • Exhibition at Faculty of Literature in Shiraz University, Shiraz, 1963