MANZAR, the Scientific Journal of landscape
Scientific Quarterly Journal

Tree-Home: The Uncanny Trees in the Paintings of Davoud Emdadian

https://doi.org/10.22034/manzar.2025.499742.2331
Volume 17, Issue 72
Autumn 2025
Pages 40-49
MANZAR, the Scientific Journal of landscape

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Abdollah Aghaie 1
Mehdi Qadernezhad Hamamyan 2

1 Department of Visual Arts, School of Arts & Architecture,Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

2 Department of Art Research, Faculty of Arts, University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur, Iran

Abstract
It would be a struggle to find a painter like Davoud Emdadian, who has been so faithful to the “tree” as an exclusive painting subject, within the history of Iranian landscape painting. Beyond the shape and placement of these trees in composition, their recurrence in his works has intensified their mystery. This study outlines said trees as an uncanny phenomenon and analyzes them in the same vein. The study adopts a psychological approach based on Sigmund Freud’s conceptual formulation of the “uncanny,” attempting to provide a coherent and precise analysis of the “how” of tree representation with the works of Emdadian. The study utilizes a descriptive-analytical method, employing purposive sampling to select works of art for analysis from Davoud Emdadian’s works, that could demonstrate the various dimensions and key components of tree representation. The study employed a library-based approach to data gathering. The research findings indicate that in terms of form, a similar structure is recurring in the majority of Emdadian’s works. In this structure, “something” is placed in the center of the work, covering most of the canvas, which often assumes the form of a tree. While alien and imposing, the tree is also familiar and close, possessing the fundamental dialectic that constructs the experience of “uncanny”. Typically, this massive tree is accompanied by signs of loss in the form of decay and ruin in the depiction of houses or small trees. These losses and the melancholic aspect gain a deeper and more pronounced dimension in the figures of massive central trees. This constant “repetition” of the uniform tree theme in Emdadian’s works could signify “repetition compulsion” and a transition from the principle of pleasure towards return, indicating a shift from residing in lost temporary dwellings towards an eternal tranquility at the borders of death, on to an eternal home.

Keywords

Davoud Emdadian
Sigmund Freud
Landscape Painting
Tree
The Uncanny
Home
Subjects
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