Born in Isfahan in 1930, Mahmoud Farshchian grew up in the proximity of Isfahan’s royal mosque, where the architectural masterpieces of the Safavid dynasty informed his understanding of art and beauty. No place in the world could have provided a better ambiance for the education of a traditional Persian artist. As a child, it was already clear that his life would be devoted to painting.

Beyond their physical appearance, Farshchian paid keen attention to their different moods and personalities. “There was this particular white rooster that was so friendly with me,” he remembers. “I carried food for him in my pocket, and he would push his head into my pocket and eat them.”

Farshchian’s father Gholamreza was a successful Persian carpet dealer, and the home was furnished with antiques, Cretonne curtains, and many carpets woven by the masters Archang (Ahmad Hartamni) and Mirza. Father would sit, arms crossed, watching in silence for hours as his young son drew the carpets’ lines and patterns. He would just look at me from the corner of his eyes. It was then that I realized the effects of my passion for art in my life.

Farshchian’s parents shared a genuine love of God and religion. His mother Zahra would take her children to the Imamzadeh Ismael shrine near their house, where Farshchian would make pencil copies of the shrine’s many paintings of events of Karbala and Ashura. The shrine had a plane tree that was burnt from inside, an image that appears in many of Farshchian’s paintings. A pilgrimage to Karbala in the 1940s affected Farshchian deeply, as revealed in his designs for the new tomb of Imam Hussein decades later.

At the age of five, Farshchian fell into the courtyard pool and almost drowned. Zahra saved his life by reaching in and pulling him out by his hair. His swirling, circular compositions reflect this harrowing near-death experience.

Gholamreza and Zahra were avid readers, and together they amassed a library containing hundreds of rare books and manuscripts. Every Friday, family and friends gathered in the family home to recite The Book of Kings, Saadi, poems, and literary maxims. Once when Farshchian was six years old, he fell and hit his head running upstairs to fetch a Book of Kings from his mother’s reading shelf for his father and their guests. The accident left the young boy completely blind for six months. When the bandages came off, Farshchian experienced a psychedelic rush of colors. His vibrant, rainbow palette reflects his joy upon recovering his sight.

Farshchian studied with the greatest masters of Persian art and literature in Isfahan. At Golbahar, the prestigious public school he attended, his teachers praised Farshchian’s artistry and encouraged him to study with Haj Mirza Agha Emami, an artist, carpet designer, and giant of Iranian Modernism. Farschian so impressed Haj Mirza with his talent, passion, and humility that he agreed to train the young student.

Haj Mirza taught Farshchian how to draw a gazelle. “When I got home, I was so excited,” Farshchian recalls. “I stayed up all night and drew about 200 gazelles: big ones, little ones....I felt like something was changing within me.” The next day, he took his portfolio to show the gazelles to Haj Mirza, who could not believe his eyes. He asked if Farshchian had drawn them all by himself or if he had traced them. “No, sir, I’d never do that. I just drew them,” Farshchian answered. Haj Mirza instructed Farshchian to draw a gazelle in his presence. After finishing quickly, Haj Mirza kissed him on the forehead and said, “You’ll become great! Work hard.”

Farshchian became Haj Mirza’s apprentice and continued to draw in pencil for four more years, mostly emulating Timurid and Safavid drawings. Then Farshchian began to study painting. Eventually, the precocious boy was helping carry out the studio's commissions. The gazelle still holds a special place in Farshchian’s heart and appears throughout his body of work.

Farshchian next attended the School of Fine Arts in Isfahan, where he kept the following sentence framed above his desk: “I should become a genius.” He studied miniature painting, drawing inspiration from the designs and tile patterns of Isfahan’s architectural monuments. Farshchian mastered the intricacies of pigments, binding mediums, and prepared his own brushes from white kitten hairs tied into bird quills tools so fine and flexible that he still uses them for delicate passages. Farshchian learned carpet design from the late master Issa Bahadori, who taught “with passion and love.” Farschian’ s artworks were gifted to every celebrity or diplomat who visited Iran.

Farschian also passionately studied literature, especially the poetry of Hafiz, Saadi, and Rumi. He and his friends would often attend poetry recitals at the Kamal Ismael Society, the Khakshir Society near the Jame’a Mosque, and the Poets Society behind the Chaharbagh School. 

In 1961 at the age of thirty, Farshchian returned from his European tour to teach at The National Institute of Fine Arts (later The Ministry of Art and Culture).

He organized exhibitions at the University of Tehran, where he rose to the position of Director of the Department of National Arts. He also designed carpets and worked so successfully in Syria that one of his vases was presented to Arthur Pope, the famous American scholar of Iranian art.

Returning from one of his trips to Europe, Farshchian held exhibitions in the Chechen Sotoun Palace Museum in Isfahan, the Golestan Palace Museum, the Ministry of Art and Culture, University of Tehran, and the Museum of Ancient Iran. Farshchian’s first international exhibition was in 1960 in Istanbul, a watershed moment that sparked multiple exhibitions across the globe. His first exhibitions in the USA were in 1972 and 1973. 

Farshchian retired from teaching in 1980 and relocated to America with his family in 1983, settling in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from New York City. There they raised their children and grandchildren and Farshchian continued to paint and take on projects in the U.S.A. and internationally.

He is included in Cambridge University’s list of the 2000 outstanding intellectuals of the 21st century and The European Academy of Culture’s Who’s Who in the 21st Century. Farshchian belongs to the Art and Professions Association of Italy and has received numerous awards and honorary memberships from universities and art centers across Europe and the USA.

Farschian’s paintings are in the private collections of H.R.H. Queen Elizabeth II of England and Prince Philip, Queen Juliana of Netherlands, Prince Agha Khan, Crown Prince Akihito of Japan, former presidents and prime ministers of the US, France, Italy, Brazil, and India, William Fulbright, Arthur A. Pope; and Michael Jackson, among others.

There have been six books and countless articles published on his work, as he comes to be recognized as playing a decisive role in introducing Iranian art to the international art scene as well as broadening the possibilities and scope of traditional Iranian painting.

In 2001, The Farshchian Museum opened to the public in Isfahan. His works are also permanently installed in Farshchian Hall at The Astan Ghods Razavi Museum and in the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Mashhad.