Charles Hossein Zenderoudi (Persian: (شارل) حسین زندهرودی; born March 11, 1937) is an Iranian painter, calligrapher and sculptor, known as a pioneer of Iranian modern art and as one of the earliest artists to incorporate Persian calligraphy elements into his artwork.
He is a pioneer of the Saqqakhaneh School of Art, a genre of neo-traditional modern art founded in Iran that is rooted in the history of Persian coffee-house paintings and Persian Shia visual elements.
[1][6][7] Zenderoudi attended the Tehran College of Decorative Arts in the 1950s to study painting and calligraphy under the mentorship of Parviz Tanavoli and Marcos Grigorian.
After winning an award at the 2nd annual Tehran Painting Biennial in 1960, he moved in 1961 to Paris, France and later became a French national.
[2] Zenderoudi’s granddaughter is the French singer-songwriter, Barbara Pravi, who represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, finishing 2nd place.