Aydin Aghdashloo was born in Rasht, Iran, to Azerbaijani parents who fled to Iran after the invasion of Azerbaijan by the Soviet Red Army in 1921. He was admitted to the University of Tehran’s College of Fine Arts in 1959 but dropped out the program in the last year. His first and only solo exhibition in Iran was held at the Iran-America Society in 1975. He started his work as a graphic designer at the age of 16 in 1956 and created many important artistic produces including remarkable book covers until 2001 when he stopped. His fascination with the beauty of the past and his love for the ancient made him collect old paintings, calligraphy and antique objects, got him involved in restoration and lead him to performing extensive research on ancient and Islamic arts which all turned him to one of the prime international experts in the field. As an art historian, art critic, and tutor, Aydin Aghadshloo has over 400 printed essays, articles and scholarly publications on Iranian and International art, restoration, Persian Miniature, calligraphy as well as film reviews, essays, travelogues and interviews. He is also an influential teacher to numerous contemporary artists who have learned painting at his studio since 1980. Furthermore, Aghdashloo performed as a distinguished commentator and wrote, directed and produced documentaries and anchored for the Iranian National Radio and Television before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Of his other professional and educational activities, one should definitely mention his fundamental role in founding several museums in different cities of Iran, including the acclaimed Reza Abbassi Museum in Tehran in 1977, a museum dedicated to the ancient period from the 2nd Millennium BC to the early 20th Century, to which he was director for two years.