"LIVE LIFE IN MODERATION"

"WHATEVER YOU SEE, IS WHAT IT IS"

Manouchehr Atash (1932-1997) - A Persian painter born in Esfahan, a master in the art of watercolor and oil, is one of the only great Persian painters to willfully remain anonymous during the 20th century. In 1943 Manou completed his first known painting at age 11. He had had no formal training. The painting depicts a young German girl being fed by an American GI. This arguably is one of his finest works.

Manou left Esfahan at age 18 to study pre~med at the Morningside College Medical School in Sioux City, Iowa. After he finished pre~med Manou went to Switzerland. Here he attended the University of Geneva Medical School and studied to become a surgeon. He had his residency in Detroit at Highland Park General Hospital. After Manou completed his residency, he returned to Sioux City, Iowa with his childhood sweatheart Homa and their four children. Upon arrival he started his own practice. In the beginning... his peers and soon to be patients were shy but were soon all dazzled by his expertise and genuine caring attitude. Manou later went on to become the Chief of Surgery at Sioux City's 3 local hospitals.

The amazing part of Manou's life was evident to those who were close to him. He was a great surgeon as well as a natural master artist. One almost develops the impression being a surgeon was his hobby and art was his life. He would use his art to keep himself strong and steady as a surgeon. When he wasn't performing miracles in the operating room, he would be creating miracles on canvas. His patience with the brush and the scalpel are obvious in his work.

Manou's early work was watercolor and oils. He later became interested in other mediums. He never studied formally but was self taught privately by the greats; Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Van Gogh, Matisse, Cezanne and his all time favorite, Dali. In his later years, surrealistic art was commanding a high percentage of his work. He would magically combine his fine tuned skills as a surgeon with his God given talent as a artist to create master pieces.

Manou, although very flamboyant and charming in character, chose to very rarely share his work with the general public. The only really fortunate ones to see his art were his family and closest friends visiting his home studio. This web page is designed to spread what Manou had to say to the world but never did. If you are at all interested in obtaining prints of his marvelous work please write the Atash family at the link provided below. The amount of interest generated will determine the availability of prints in the near future.