خلاصة:
In the assessment of art history in Qajar era, in addition to their aesthetic elements, the social, historical, and political processes influencing on the formation of the works must be taken into account. These studies never detract from the values of the artworks, but demonstrate the share of ultra-aesthetic elements in them. The historical evidence of Qajar era reveals to us some manifestations of the impact of policies, especially those of the governmental elite1, on the art of this period. The headlines of governmental offices, orders, notifications, circulars, and political themes of the artwork are evidenced. In the second half of Qajar government, the growth of modern ideas created a new discursive space, the development of which had a significant impact on the emergence of artistic styles and appearance of eclectic styles.
Focus on the interaction between art and politics and analysis of the factors affecting the formation of artwork are among the topics that have been less paid attention to by the researchers in this field. Yet, from among the factors influencing on the creation of works of art, governance policies have played a decisive role. The two fundamental questions this paper was formed to answer were what relationship there has been between art and politics during the Qajar era and what factors have influenced on it. This article aimed at evaluating how the governing elite dealt with artists, artworks, and their outcomes by using a descriptive-analytical method. The article has been further theoretically inspired by the relationship between knowledge and power based on Michel Foucault’s thoughts. Therefore, according to Foucault’s theories and viewpoints on the relationship between knowledge and power, the relations between art and politics were analyzed. The results of this study were indicative of the interactions between politics and art in the form of politics supporting art, and in some cases, contrasting it, the manifestations of which could be found in the critical aspects of the works of art.
ملخص الجهاز:
After a glance through the political and social developments in the Qajar era, the author of this work has evaluated the art of painting a n d its growth since the time of Fath ali Shah Qajar, while he has not mentioned the kings’ policies in support of the various types of arts in this era.
At the time of the Qajar kings, "restoration of the grandeur of ancient Iran not only found a way through the visual arts, but also was part of recreating Iranian language, history, and culture (Flor, et al, 2002: 31).
Fath ali Shah was interested in writing poetry, calligraphy, and painting, which led to his attention to artists and flourishing of the mentioned arts insofar as artists such as Zine el-Abidine Ashraf al-Kottab Esfahani, Mohammad Shafi’, the son of Muhammad Ali Tabrizi, Vesal Shirazi, and hundreds of Naskh (a type of Persian handwriting style) writers and other famous calligraphers were trained at that time (Haqiqat, 2005: 579).
Paying attention to the arts, such as painting, calligraphy, and architecture besides creating art workshops in the court, and attempting to train the artists and supporting them directed towards improving the state Iranian arts by the kings of this era clearly indicate the relationship between power and knowledge in such a way that the development of knowledge is not separable from the issue of the exercise of power.