Jalil Rasouli, Garden of Paradise (1994)

Jalil Rasouli, born in 1947 in Hamedan, Iran, is a pioneer of the Modernist Iranian calligraphy movement. Garden of Paradise represents the four gardens of paradise in the Quran. The layout is broken up into four squares representing each garden and the rivers that separate them. Each square is colored in vibrant watercolor to represent the four rivers of water, milk, wine, and honey that run through the gardens of paradise. A fifth square at the bottom represents Allah. The layout is constructed similarly to a chahar-bagh ("four gardens"), which is a type of monument designed to represent heaven.

From 1968-1972, Rasouli trained under the contemporary Iranian calligrapher and cofounder of the Iranian Calligraphers Association Hassan Mirkhani. Garden of Paradise is an abstract interpretation of traditional Iranian calligraphy. Rasouli employs delicate, free-flowing strokes that are common in traditional calligraphy, but he does so in a way that is much more fluid. Rasouli was inspired by the natural forms he encountered while walking through a garden, which are reflected in his use of simple, abstract strokes and flowery colors.