Behjat Sadr Mahalati (born on May 29, 1924 – died on August 10, 2009) was an Iranian painter.
She was born in Arak. Her father Mohammad Sadr Mahalati and her mother Qamar Amini Sadr were from the famous families of the city.
In 1954 she graduated with honor in painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Tehran University. Then, in 1956, she received a scholarship to study art in Italy from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma. In 1957, she won Simin Hemtrazi award of the city of San Vito, and one of her paintings was accepted in the 28th Venice Biennale along with some other young Iranian painters.
In 1958, her first exhibition was held in “Pincho” gallery in Rome. Two years after marrying Morteza Hananeh, she came back to Iran in 1961 and taught painting at the University of Tehran. Her only child, Mitra who is called Kakuti, was born in 1964.
In 1963, Behjat Sadr won the first prize in the third Tehran Biennial and her paintings were sent to the 31st Venice Biennial. Although she was diagnosed with breast cancer in the late 1990s, she continues to paint with ease.
Behjat Sadr subtly used cold and matte colors with the play of bright shadows in harmony with various materials such as wood, metal, oil paint, acrylic and other materials. Her abstract artworks are reminiscent of Persian campuses and gardens. She is considered as an influential and avant-garde female artist of her time in contemporary Iranian art.