Painting

Mohammad Ghaffari Kashani known as Kamal-ol-Molk was the best known Iranian painter of the late Qajar and early Pahlavi eras. He was the son of Agha Mirza Bozorg, servant of Mohammad Shah and Nassereddin Shah. In his own words he was born in Tehran probably in 1833 - the year of Nassereddin Shah's first trip to Soltanieh. Mohammad was raised in a family in which not only his father, but also his uncle Mirza Abolhassan Ghaffari and his brother Mirza Abutorab were very able painters. In early youth he traveled to Tehran and enrolled in Darolfonun School where he studied with Mirza Ali Akbar Khan Nozayeneddoleh. He made a portrait of Aliqoli Khan Etezadolsaltaneh from a photograph and after the visit of Nassereddin Shah of the school he was summoned to the court. Mohammad was stationed in Badgir building in Shamsolemareh, and became the king's teacher in painting and was conferred the title of Naqash Bashi (master painter). His best-known work is the painting of the Hall of Mirrors after the completion of which he received the title of Kamal-ol-Molk. After the assassination of Nassereddin Shah and during the reign of Mozaffareddin Shah, he traveled to Europe and was acquainted with the works of painters such as Rembrandt, Titian, Fontaine Latour and others. After his return home he traveled to Karbala where he created the paintings Karbala Battle field and Baghdad Jeweler. He returned from Karbala on the request of Mozaffareddin Shah, but feigning ill health he refrained from painting. Several years later he founded the Fine Arts School, undertook to manage it personally and trained many students some of whom became masters of the Kamal-ol-Molk school. Finally he resigned after he had differences with the culture minister and settled in Hassan-Abad in Neishabour. He died in 1940 due to weakness and old age and was buried in Neishabour near the tomb of Sheikh Fardidoddin Attar Neishabouri.