Maker/Artist
Riza
Persian painter, draftsman, and court artist, ca. 1565-1635
Riza, son of 'Ali Asghar, was a leading artist under the Safavid shah Abbas I (reigned 1588-1629). He was probably born in Kāshān and he probably died in Eṣfahān. He is noted primarily for having created portraits and genre scenes. The various names for this artist and the attributions of paintings in his oeuvre have been disputed, since his signatures and contemporary documentary references to him are ambiguous. Most scholars now agree that the artist, Aqa Riza, who is named by Safavid chroniclers, is the same person as Riza in the court of Abbas (thus, "Abassi"), and that the artist's style changed significantly at mid-life. His early paintings display a fine, almost calligraphic linear style with mainly primary colors; the palette of his later works is darker and earthier, and the lines are coarser and heavier. To confuse matters further, this artist is distinguished from yet another Persian artist who went by the name Aqa Riza during the same period, but who worked for the Mughal Emperor Jahangir in India.
