Marie Shayans was an Iranian painter, printmaker, and mosaic artist associated with Iran’s modern art movement during the Pahlavi era. Trained in both Iran and Europe, she emerged during the cultural renaissance of the 1960s, a period marked by the growing visibility of women artists engaging with modernist ideas and personal expression.
Working across oil painting, gravure, and mosaic, Shayans developed a distinctive visual language that fused traditional Persian motifs with modern abstraction. Her work is characterised by a quiet intensity and lyrical restraint, often exploring themes of femininity, identity, and memory through layered forms and subtle tonal relationships.
Shayans participated in several significant exhibitions, including the 4th Tehran Biennale in 1964, where she was awarded the Second Fine Arts Prize, and the IV Biennale de Paris in 1965, representing Iran on an international platform. She also exhibited abroad, including her final exhibition in Turin, Italy. Following the Iranian Revolution of 1979, her career and visibility were abruptly interrupted. Today, her work is increasingly recognised as an important contribution to Iran’s early modernist legacy.
