Social and Cultural Context Affecting the Activities of Women Painters of Pahlavi Era (1925-1978)

Abstract

Different factors were affecting the presence of women during the Pahlavi era. In new structures after the constitutional period and along with the absolute modernism of Pahlavi, discourses changes were made based on democracy, socialism, Shia resistance and autonomy, court to government and political figures to people. During this period the role of women was formed on the basis of their social position and in their gender approach it changed from a <class in itself> to a <class for self>. The consequences of social contexts led to witness more active presence of women during Pahlavi era compared with the past periods particularly in the visual arts arena; so that the history of the Tehran galleries from 1953-1978 which reflects their activities during that time confirms this fact. The purpose of the present essay is to analyze the social contexts which have attracted women from margin to the center and attending to them since no study has been done in this respect seems essential and it's an attempt to answer the question that what social contexts have been influential in boosting up the presence of women especially women painters of Pahlavi era? In this research the data collect is library type and filed study and it has been compiled in a comparative descriptive-analytic method, the origin and social contexts of the women painters of the Pahlavi era whose works were displayed were studied and analyzed and it can be inferred that the presence of supportive men in families, education, social context, urban life, publicizing the culture thanks to the cultural foundations and media, the actual and legal presence of the queen, government support due to cultural policies, women social movements, and the transformation of the women role in twentieth century had decisive role on enhancing the social position of women particularly the role of the women painters of the second Pahlavi era.