Renowned artist Mohasses dies at 79

Bahman Mohasses, the renowned Iranian painter and avant-garde sculptor, has died at the age of 79 in his residential house in Rome, Italy.

The cause of his death has been attributed to old age and a lung disease that had been worsened by Rome's unprecedented warmth, ISNA reports.

Mohasses was born in February 1932 and, at the age of 14, started his training in the workshop and gallery of Mohammad Habib Mohammadi, who had himself studied art at the Moscow Academy of Art.

While residing in Tehran, Mohasses studied art at the University of Tehran for a few months.

He travelled to Europe in 1955 and settled in Italy. He trained in the Rome's Academy of Art for some time.

Although it is believed that he was under the influence of Picasso, critics admit that his works exhibit the spirit of the Iranian art.

Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Arts was planning to hold a gallery of his works but the plan was never fulfilled.

Later, some of his works from the Jahan Nama treasure house of Niavaran Palace were put on show.

Mohasses had held numerous joint as well as individual exhibitions in Tehran, Rome, Milan, Florence, Cannes, Paris, Beirut, and Geneva.

He had also translated works by a number of great authors including Italo Calvino, and Luigi Pirandello.