A tribute to Dr Jamshid MirFenderesky, 16 March 1947 – 22 April 2026
All of us here at the GTG were so sad to learn about the passing of the much-loved Jamshid MirFenderesky in April of this year. Jamshid and his wife Angela contributed immensely to the arts in Northern Ireland since 1983 with the Fenderesky Gallery, helping generations of artists and promoting Northern Irish art. Brian McAvera has written this tribute to Jamshid, a friend and colleague for more than forty years.
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Jamshid MirFenderesky, who established the Fenderesky Gallery in Belfast in 1984, was the most unlikely director/owner of a gallery that I ever came across.
An Iranian, he was born in Tehran, studied Persian literature there for his first degree, then moved to Belfast to study philosophy at Queens University where he acquired his PhD in 1975. Moving back to Iran, he was a university lecturer in philosophy and the philosophy of art. In 1980, after Saddam Hussain invaded Iran, he relocated to Belfast with his Northern Irish wife Angela Eastwood. Four years later in 1984, subvented by Austin Donnelly and Angela, the Fenderesky Gallery opened, which was when I first met both Jamshid and Angela.
Initially, the gallery was located in a basement at the junction between the Stranmillis Road and the Malone Road. I said earlier that he was a most unlikely gallery director. A great big, bearded bear of a man, he reminded me of a famous French gallery owner, Ambroise Vollard, who was another big bear of a man, a Creole who opened his gallery in Montmartre in 1895, and swiftly established himself as the promoter of Cezanne, Picasso, Bonnard, Matisse and a roster of major artists. Like Jamshid, he had an uncanny knack for spotting talent.
Matisse told the story of, when he was a student, going into the gallery (also in a basement) hoping to buy a small Cezanne. He discovered Vollard, behind a large table, feet up upon it, seemingly asleep. When Matisse finally found a small Cezanne, the seemingly asleep Vollard informed him that he could not afford it. Matisse persisted and was allowed to pay it off monthly.
That was very much like Jamshid: he never seemed to be that bothered about selling anything – yet he did, albeit slowly.
(l-r) Jamshid as a young man; Jamshid with artist David Crone, 2018; Jamshid in 2024
Most galleries are off-putting to the general public. When you went into Jamshid’s he immediately made you a cup of proper coffee – no Nescafe for him! Instead of the usual gallery director’s menu – on the phone to clients, sweet-talking possible buyers – Jamshid was more likely to be reading The New York Review of Books, or reading poetry.
When it came to hanging shows, he did it by himself, fastidiously. In those early days especially, he was a great organizer of talks and symposia (I did one on Willie Doherty for example), and he produced catalogues: not just the usual stapled List of Works plus CV encased in white card, but elegantly produced items on good-quality surfaced paper with excellent illustrations and one or two short essays. Diarmuid Delargy, Fergus Delargy, Dermot Seymour and many others benefitted -and this was at a time when Irish galleries rarely produced good catalogues, if they produced them at all!
In the eighties, Jamshid showed a remarkable range of artists, the roster including David Crone, Diarmuid and Fergus Delargy, Mick Cullen, Una Walker, Felim Egan, Willie Doherty, Jack Pakenham, Dermot Seymour, Martin Wedge, Paddy Graham, Patrick Hall, Graham Gingles and Clement McAleer, amongst many others.
Remarkably, although he had no interest whatsoever in socio-political art, he managed to show most of the major socio-political artists of the period. This, I am sure, was because he responded to the aesthetic qualities of their work.
(l-r) Jamshid's love of music was always evident; exterior Fenderesky Gallery on North Street; Jamshid enjoying an exhibition launch
Jamshid and I had diametrically opposite views on ‘political’ art – indeed on art itself. For him, the term ‘political artist’ meant that the artist had to have a clearcut ideology, had to use art as a tool for political propaganda. When I interviewed him for my book Art, Politics, and Ireland (1989) he considered that Northern Irish artists simply reflected the chaos of their society, and that violence and bigotry were not political phenomena. He also considered that art was not a means of self-expression. Yet despite the fact that I held markedly different views from him, Jamshid was always friendly and welcoming; always ready to have a discussion.
He also had a phenomenal work rate, opening two new shows every three weeks. He produced scores of thematic shows, as well as hundreds of one-man shows, often giving young artists their first solo exhibitions. He also regularly attended art fairs, especially Art Cologne where he exhibited eight times.
In 1990, because of funding problems, the gallery became associated with Queens University and moved to 5 Upper Crescent. In 1995 it moved again to the Crescent Arts Centre where it stayed until 2008, when the Crescent closed for refurbishment. The gallery relocated to 103-105 Royal Avenue, and then in 2014 it made its final move to 31 North Street.
Many private galleries only last five to ten years. The Fenderesky Gallery lasted for forty and indisputably was a major boon to the art scene in the North. Jamshid, Austin Donnelly, and Jamshid’s wife Angela (who supported the family for many, many years) are owed a huge debt of gratitude.
Jamshid will be really missed.
Brian McAvera, June 2026
Angela Eastwood has very kindly donated a number of significant items from the Fenderesky Gallery archive to the NI Visual Art Research Library & Archive at the Golden Thread Gallery. NIVARLA items in the rare and special collection will be available to view by appointment. We will share more information on how to access and use NIVARLA soon!
The Northern Ireland Visual Art Research Library & Archive is supported by the Ampersand Foundation, with many books and archive items donated and on loan from the McAvera & Walker Library.
This article was amended with some date corrections on 1st July 2026.
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