Fighting Cock (Khorus Jangi) magazine emblem
Master Ziapour, after his first return to Iran – in the year 1949 – as a pioneering painter and knowledgeable theorist, became the standard-bearer of the modern painting movement and proceeded to establish the Fighting Cock Association, which was a progressive assembly in the field of introducing the domains of modern art, especially literature, theater, music, and painting.
Members of the Association
The members of the association can be examined in two periods:
The year 1949 – The first group: Messrs. “Gholamhossein Gharib” in the field of literature, “Hassan Shirvani” in the field of theater, “Morteza Hannaneh” in the field of music, and “Jalil Ziapour” in the field of painting, who was also in charge of the management of the association. The association, with the aim of enlightening minds regarding modern art, began publishing a magazine under the same name. Right at the beginning, Hannaneh withdrew due to a difference of taste, but later wrote scholarly articles about Western music.
The year 1951 – The second group: Houshang Irani (poet) found his way into the association, and Ziapour distanced himself from it. He says: “With the entry of Houshang Irani into the association, his offensive extremism caused me to withdraw from the circle of friends.” Therefore, the association consisted of “Gholamhossein Gharib”, “Hassan Shirvani”, and “Houshang Irani”.
Fighting Cock Magazine
Fighting Cock magazine was also published in two periods:
First period of publication (1949–1950) – During this period, 5 issues of the magazine were published under the supervision of Ziapour, Shirvani, and Gharib, and on the back cover of its issues, this text appeared: “Under the supervision of the Fighting Cock Art Association. Our goal is to raise the level of public knowledge.”
Second period of publication (1951) – This period of Fighting Cock magazine was published in 4 issues, and its first issue was published on 5 June of the same year. In this period, Ziapour had stepped aside of his own accord, and Houshang Irani had come in his place. The format of the magazine was enlarged, and on the back cover page, a manifesto appeared, signed by the Fighting Cock Art Association – Gharib, Shirvani, and Irani – most of whose lines apparently reflected the beliefs of Houshang Irani and were written by him. This manifesto, under the title “Slaughterer of the Nightingale,” consisted of 13 clauses.
The Emblem and Name of the Association
The emblem of the association, which is the design on the cover of Fighting Cock magazine, was designed by Jalil Ziapour, and its name was chosen at the suggestion of Gholamhossein Gharib. Ziapour, regarding the reason for choosing the name “Fighting Cock,” says:
“The cock, in terms of physical appearance, is a solid and aggressive creature, and in terms of coloring, striking; in terms of identity (in our literature), it is the representative of the angel Bahman, and as a vanguard, its duty has been to awaken the people. And since the beautiful and colorful appearance of the cock is close to painting, and it itself is also a manifestation of war and struggle, it was considered a suitable symbol for the goals of the association.”
The Collaboration of Nima Yooshij and Other Artists
In the year 1949, the association, by hosting individuals such as Nima Yooshij, Manouchehr Sheybani, Mostafa Kamal Pourtorab, and other figures in the fields of modern art, began a new wave on the path of art. It is worth mentioning that Nima Yooshij, as a sign of collaboration with Fighting Cock magazine, began with the poem “The City of Morning,” which was published in the first issue of that magazine:
From The City of Morning
Cock-a-doodle-doo. The cock crows.
From the hidden depths of the village’s solitude,
From the descent of a path which, like a dry vein,
Sets blood running in the bodies of the dead,
It weaves upon the cold wall of dawn;
It trickles to every side of the plain.
…
Activities and Ideals of the Association
The association’s premises were located in Ziapour’s atelier – on the former Takht-e Jamshid Avenue, on the western section of the wall of the Oil Company Palace – where every Friday afternoon, a lecture would be given on one of the artistic fields; at the end of the session, the attendees would engage in questions and answers; no exhibition was held in this venue and it was solely dedicated to lectures, and Ziapour, through weekly lectures at this association and other centers, and by writing theoretical articles and technical reviews on modern painting, devoted himself to promoting the perspectives of modern art.
Ziapour says the following regarding the motivations of Fighting Cock’s movement and activity:
“We, based on our motto:
The tale of Alexander has become a legend and grown old / Bring forth new speech, for the new has a different sweetness
(Farrokhi Sistani)
left no backwardness or regression unanswered, and as far as our awareness permitted, we decisively cast aside and exposed the factors of obstruction and opportunism. In fact, Fighting Cock waged a struggle against the worship of the old and a traditionalism detached from the realities of the time.”
Impact and Confrontation with Opponents
The impact that this movement left on the course of contemporary Iranian painting is hidden from no one, as in the year 1976, the English-language publication of the Supreme Council of Culture and Art wrote: “Contemporary Iranian painting in the years 1949–1950, in the arena of the dispute between old and new art, entered a new stage through the paintings and writings of Jalil Ziapour.”
From the year 1948, debate in the field of modern painting intensified, and the center of these cultural and artistic disputes was the Fighting Cock Association and magazine. At this very time, Ziapour delivered twelve lectures on modern painting and published a number of forceful and enlightening articles against classical painters and Western promoters who moved together in the same direction against modern painting.
At this time, three groups were specifically considered his main enemies and opponents: the first group was the Tudeh Party members, who said that painting must be understandable for everyone, so that even an orange seller would definitely understand it; the second group was the miniaturists, who opposed modern art altogether; and the third category was the realists, who were supported by the aristocracy and said that realistic works must be painted. These three groups colluded with each other against the master. The debates and animosities dragged the matter to the parliament of the time, to the point that the parliament interpellated the Minister of the Interior over why he had allowed the Fighting Cock booklet to be distributed at the level of vocational schools, high schools, and colleges, and to propagate the ideas of the Tudeh Party members. For this reason, the magazine was banned, and Ziapour (the author of the articles on Cubism) was summoned to the Administrative Offenses Court. During his interrogation, he was asked who had commissioned him to propagate Cubism, and why he spoke about Cubism. After Ziapour’s scientific and artistic explanations regarding Cubism, an apology was made to him for the banning of Fighting Cock magazine, and he was told: “We thought Cubism meant Communism!”
Kavir Magazine
Kavir magazine emblem
After Ziapour’s administrative trial and the officials’ realization that he was not propagating the ideas of the Tudeh Party members or publishing a political magazine, it was decided that Fighting Cock magazine, which had been banned, would be published under another name; therefore, in late 1949, “Kavir Magazine” was published in two issues by Ziapour, Gharib, and Shirvani with the same previous goals, and the cocks that had appeared in a single form under the banner of the armored fighting cock now showed their faces in “Kavir Magazine.” In this low-circulation and important magazine, Ziapour depicted his first abstract Cubist painting under the name “The Public Bath” as an Iranian artist, and published an article titled “Painting,” which was in fact an explanation of the obvious regarding his “Public Bath,” and more importantly, this very article is also the first theory of modern art in Iran.
The Cock’s Claw (Panjeh-ye Khorus) Magazine
The Cock’s Claw magazine emblem
After Kavir magazine was banned in late 1950, “The Cock’s Claw” magazine took its place, and Ziapour proceeded to reflect his thoughts in that publication. Among the younger painters who collaborated with this magazine, Sohrab Sepehri and Bahman Mohassess can be named.
Exhibitions and the Reconciliation of Tradition and Modernism
Ziapour exhibited a number of his paintings at the Apadana Gallery, the Anatole France Association, the Giti Art Association, and the Mehregan Club, and also delivered lectures on modern art, modernism, and backwardness. After a great deal of outcry was raised on the radio, in magazines, and in parliament against Ziapour and modern art, he initiated a kind of reconciliation between traditional art and the new wave of Cubism. By utilizing geometric shapes and decorative art derived from the tilework of mosques and the divisions seen in his Cubist paintings, he marked a new design in the modern art of Iran for the first time.
