Taha Afshar is born in Winchester, England, on June 2nd. His father, born in Ahfaz, Iran is a tea merchant.
From the age of 14 to 18, Afshar attends Winchester College, where he was studied Art and History of Art in the classes of Lawrence Wolff, who attended the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford. During his time, the art school produced several professional painters, such as Nicholas Hatful, Oliver Osborne, who both went on to study degrees at the Royal Academy.
Afshar exhibits for the first time in a local gallery, the Maltby Art Gallery in Winchester, winning a local young artists prize. He also exhibits work at Bell Fine Arts, a local commercial gallery. All of the works are sold, but the gallery refuses to provide the details of the purchasers. As a result, Afshar is put off selling more work, opting to only give works as gifts to close friends and family.
He is then awarded the Drew Art Travel Scholarship. He produces 27 oil on canvas paintings for an exhibition at the Angelus Gallery, Winchester. All works are now in private collections.
Due to pressure to join the successful family business, he studies a BSc. Economics and University College, London, followed by MSc. In Management at the London School of Economics (LSE). Whilst at university, he continues to produce work out of the studio.
After taking 2 years out of academia to travel and work in finance, he returns to the LSE to complete his PhD in Management, where he studies Corporate Philanthropy in the UK and US. In the September prior to starting his PhD., he works on a series of process driven conceptual works at the peak of the economic crisis. The works draw a comparison between economics cycles and the cycles of nature.
After completing his PhD he travels to Sweden for a painting trip to Svanso, completing 5 paintings.
Marries and moves to Hampshire and sets up a new studio.
In October, he stays near Alingsås, a town in central Sweden. He rents a cottage by the lake and creates his first body of work with the intention of selling since 1999. The 18 paintings are mostly completed on site en plein air. Each painting is from the same position but executed at a different time of the day, which is documented in the titles of the paintings.
Exhibits work across 4 groups shows around London and Winchester.
Exhibits works with two of the most renown contemporary Iranian artists, Monir Farmanfarmaian and Y.Z. Kami, in an exhibition entitled "The Garden of Mystery" at Asia House in London, which celebrated the 700th anniversary of a Sufi poem by Persian poet M. Shabistari. The exhibition was complimented by panel including Dr Ladan Akbarnia from British Museum and Dr Sussan Babaie from the Courtauld Institute of Art.