A Social Analysis of Kamal-al-Molk Works in the Field of Painting in Iran

Kamal-al-Molk is one of the first Iranian painters who totally dismissed the traditional rules of painting. He redefined the meaning of painter and his career. In this text, we used Pierre Bourdie's theory (one of the latest French sociologists) and the Genetic Structuralism he offered as a theoretical framework and method for analyzing Qajar painting changes and representation of real life in Kamal-al-Molk masterpieces. By the use of Genetic Structuralism we focused on Modernism and the momentous role it played in the future of Iranian Painting. Genesis of the field of painting production and it's relation with the field of power in Qajar epoch were the aspects we took in consideration here. In other words, unlike the other studies, which Explain Qajar painting changes according to west painting, in this study we tried to do the same according to social changes in Iran and its effect on art and painting. In doing so, emerging of the field of painting and its two main poles, independent and dependent poles, are recognized generally. In accordance with the process of modernism and the rule of law, distinction extended in the field of Qajar society and, as a result, the field of painting production appeared gradually. According to the study's conclusion, the field of painting production in Iran appeared around the Iranian Constitutional Revolution (‘Mashrooteh’ in Persian) with Kamal-al-Molk being placed on the independent pole. "Royal Painting" was the main form of painting and in the first period of Qajar, and Fathalishah's court was its main centre. However "popular Painting" was produced extensively in this period. Kamal-al-Molk, one of the most famous painters in his second part of life, changed his mind and created his works just to paint them without any application and royal relations; indeed, he gradually started to create pure painting. He was one of the first Iranian painters who started to be independent from the court and established "art for the sake of art" in Iran. As a conclusion, whenever painters were away from court and the field of power they were inspired by people and their real life. According to this research, the Field of painting production emerged around the Constitutional Revolution in Iran and Kamal-al-Molk is the first Iranian painter who produced some of his works near the Independent pole as a freelance and modern painter. He is an artist who changed the momentum of Iranian painting in distancing himself from the common traditions of the last centuries. However, his new style resulted in the complete freedom of painting in the next decades and in the first period of Pahlavi’s epoch by a group of artists who went to Europe to study art. On the other hand, the establishment of Tehran University and the Fine art faculty, which was a new base for the production of pure painting, happened as art was produced in the independent field and redefined its rules without any relation with other fields. In its real freedom, art was produced by the artists’ desire rather than by authorities’ orders.