Behdjat Sadr (Iran, 1924-France, 2009) was one of the pioneers of Iranian artistic modernity. After studying at the School of Fine Arts in Tehran, she went to Rome, where she veered towards a non-geometric abstract painting. Abandoning the easel and traditional colours, she used synthetic house paints which she poured over surfaces arranged on the floor. Back in Iran in the late 1950s, she was very swiftly noticed by Pierre Restany, and later on by Michel Ragon. Her works were shown in many institutions in France and abroad, at venues including the Bussola gallery Rome (1958), the Venice Biennale (1962), the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (1963) and the Gray Art Gallery, New York (2010). In 2004, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art held a major retrospective of her work, as part of the exhibitions devoted to the pioneers of modern art in Iran.