Learn Farsi: هنرمندان این جنبش از یک نقاشی معروف الهام گرفتند. - The artists of this movement were inspired by a famous painting.

In Farsi, "to be inspired" is usually expressed with the active compound verb الهام گرفتن (literally "to take inspiration"). So instead of a passive construction, the Farsi literally says the artists took inspiration from a famous painting.

Why is the preposition از (from) used here instead of a word for "by" as in the English translation?

This is dictated by the compound verb. Because the Farsi verb is الهام گرفتن (to take inspiration), logically you take inspiration from something. Therefore, Farsi pairs it with از, even though English phrasing uses "inspired by".

The word جنبش (movement) looks like a noun built from a verb stem. What is its root?

It comes from the verb جنبیدن (to move, to stir). Adding the suffix ـش to the present stem creates a verbal noun. Here, it specifically refers to an artistic or political movement.

Why use هنرمندان instead of هنرمندها for "artists"?

While هنرمندها is grammatically correct and common, هنرمندان uses the plural suffix ـان which is traditionally reserved for animate nouns like people. It elevates the tone, making it slightly more formal and elegant, which fits a sentence about art history.

If we were talking about just one of these artists in this formal context, could we use the pronoun for "he" or "she"?