Massumeh Farhad Explained

Massumeh Farhad
Birth Place:	Iran
Alma Mater:	Harvard University
Occupation:	Curator, art historian, author
Known For:	Islamic art history, Iranian art history, Turkish art history

Massumeh Farhad is an Iranian-born American curator, art historian, and author. She is the Chief Curator and Curator of Islamic Art at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Asian Art.^{[1] [2]} She is known for her work with Persian 17th-century manuscripts.^[3]

Biography

Massumeh Farhad grew up in Iran, and emigrated from Iran to the United States to attend university.^[4] Farhad has a PhD (1987) in art history from Harvard University. In 1997, she had been in a relationship with the Chief Curator of the National Museum of African Art, Philip L. Ravenhill (1945–1997) before his death.^[5]

She has contributed to the Encyclopaedia Iranica. Farhad has curated numerous exhibitions including the "Art of the Persian Courts" (1996),^[6] "The Heroic Past: The Persian Book of Kings" (2000),^[7] "Fountains of Light: The Nuhad Es-Said Collection of Metalwork" (2000),^[8] "Antoin Sevruguin and the Persian Image" (2001),^[9] "The Adventures of Hamza" (2002),^[10] "Style and Status: Imperial Costumes From Ottoman Turkey" (2005),^[11] "Facing East: Portraits from Asia" (2006),^[12] "Falnama: The Book of Omens" (2009), and "The Art of Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art" (2016–2017).^{[13] [14] [15]}

Publications

• Book: Farhad, Massumeh . Safavid Single Page Painting, 1629–1666 . Harvard University . 1987 . thesis . 192140330.
• Book: Farhad, Massumeh . The Art of Mu'in Musavvir: A Mirror of His Times . 1990.
• Book: Simpson . Marianna Shreve . Sultan Ibrahim Mirza's Haft Awrang: A Princely Manuscript from Sixteenth-century Iran . Farhad . Massumeh . Yale University Press . 1997 . 9780300068023.
• Book: Babaie . Sussan . Slaves of the Shah: New Elites of Safavid Iran . Babayan . Kathryn . McCabe . Ina Baghdiantz . Farhad . Massumeh . I.B. Tauris . 2003 . 978-1860647215 . Sussan Babaie. ^{[16] [17]}
• Book: Farhad . Massumeh . Falnama: The Book of Omens . Bağcı . Serpil . Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution . 2009 . 9780934686150. ^[18]
• Book: Farhad . Massumeh . The Art of the Qurʼan: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts . McAuliffe . Jane . Rettig . Simon . Déroche . François . Tanındı . Zeren . Smithsonian Institution . Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi (Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts) . 2016 . 9781588345783 . Farhad . Massumeh . Jane Dammen McAuliffe . Zeren Tanındı . Rettig . Simon. ^[19]

See also

• Women in the art history field

Notes and References

1. News: Brown . Matthew Hay . 2009-11-05 . Rare Islamic art put online for all . A1, A10 . . 2022-10-17 . says Massumeh Farhad, chief curator at the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution . Newspapers.com.
2. News: Melikian . Souren . Souren Melikian . 2009-11-20 . The Beginnings of Divination . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-10-16 . 0362-4331 . chief curator at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.
3. Web site: Moulton . Gavin . March 25, 2022 . Dr. Massumeh Farhad . 2022-10-17 . Middle East Policy Council . en.
4. Web site: Dr. Massumeh Farhad . 2023-06-07 . Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) . en.
5. News: Cotter . Holland . Holland Cotter . 1997-10-16 . Philip L. Ravenhill, 52, Expert On the Art and Culture of Africa . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-10-17 . 0362-4331.
6. News: Cotter . Holland . 1997-02-23 . Mergings of History, Myth and Dream . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-10-17 . 0362-4331.
7. News: Cotter . Holland . Holland Cotter . 2000-08-25 . Art Review; Politics Runs Through More Than Campaigns . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-10-17 . 0362-4331.
8. Book: Newsletter, East Asian Art and Archaeology . 1998 . East Asian Program, University of Michigan . 7 . en.
9. News: Rexer . Lyle . 2001-05-13 . ART/ARCHITECTURE; A Persian Pioneer In a Western Art . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-10-17 . 0362-4331.
10. News: Smith . Roberta . Roberta Smith . 2002-08-30 . Art Review; Every Which Way to Paint . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-10-17 . 0362-4331.
11. News: Cotter . Holland . 2005-12-05 . Dressing for Ottoman Success in a Blaze of Silk and Gold . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-10-17 . 0362-4331.
12. News: Cotter . Holland . 2006-07-21 . Summer in Washington, Where Image Is All . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-10-17 . 0362-4331.
13. News: Inskeep . Steve . December 2, 2016 . Quran Exhibition Shines A Light On The Holy Books' Dedicated Artists . en . NPR.org . 2022-10-17.
14. News: Cotter . Holland . 2016-11-10 . 'The Art of the Qur'an,' a Rare Peek at Islam's Holy Text . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-10-17 . 0362-4331.
15. Web site: Dražović . Željko . 2017-03-02 . The forgotten beauty of Islamic Art . 2022-10-17 . Arthive.
16. Floor . Willem . 2006 . Review of Slaves of the Shah: New Elites of Safavid Iran . International Journal of Middle East Studies . 38 . 1 . 141–142 . 10.1017/S0020743806272283 . 3879803 . 161925043 . 0020-7438.
17. Rota . Giorgio . 2005 . Review of Slaves of the Shah: New Elites of Safavid Iran . Middle East Journal . 59 . 4 . 696–697 . 4330207 . 0026-3141.
18. Natif . Mika . 2010-10-06 . Mika Natif. Review of "Falnama: The Book of Omens" by Massumeh Farhad. . CAA Reviews . en . 10.3202/caa.reviews.2010.110 . 1543-950X. free .
19. Chaigne . Frantz . 2018-03-10 . Massumeh Farhad, Simon Rettig. The Art of the Qur'an, Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts . Abstracta Iranica. Revue bibliographique pour le domaine irano-aryen . fr . 37 . 10.4000/abstractairanica.42580 . 0240-8910 . OpenEdition Journals. free .