Mahmoud Zanganeh is one of the self-taught Iranian painters and is known for his paintings of rural landscapes. Zanganeh's attachment to rural landscapes dates back to his childhood. He was born in the village and accompanied his itinerant trader father from one village to another. After immigrating from his hometown, Ab Anbar to the city of Hamedan, he had to work in a tannery. He had to take care of the skins that were spread out in the sun so that they would not become too dry. 

"I made a few crayons and some paper and painted for hours. Most of my paintings were scenes I had seen through travels to the countryside with my father. "He tried to make money from the skills he had acquired in painting while he traveled to Tehran along his family for treatment of mother’s illness. He drew scenes of country houses on a few pieces of cardboard and sold them to street passengers. Out of luck, one of them was attracted to his talent and took him to the Conservatory of Fine Arts in Tehran and introduced him to the school principal. Karimian and other teachers present at the school, were impressed by his talent and decided to support him and arrange his employment as a school servant. Living in the capital and being employed at a conservatory provided him a good opportunity to learn from school teachers and pursue a career in painting. In the conservatory, he met painters such as Hossein Behzad and Hannibal Alkhas. 

"I know Master Zanganeh well and I remember him well. At the school where I taught painting, I got to know him and discovered his talent. He showed me one of his paintings on a piece of cardboard. It was fantastic,” said Alkhas about those days. “I told him ... you are not a servant, you are an extremely talented student to me. Come to the class whenever you want." Three years later, in 1962, Zanganeh exhibited his paintings alongside the works of Hannibal Alkhas at the Gilgamesh Gallery in Tehran. He was a prolific painter and participated in more than 138 domestic and foreign exhibitions during his career. His works have been exhibited in countries such as the United States, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Taiwan, Bangladesh and Hungary. He also created sculpture using scrap metal and machine wastes. Mahmoud Zanganeh's first appearance in the auctions dates back to July 2018 at the Tehran Auction House.

Javad Mojabi puts Zanganeh's name in the ranks of artists such as Ghollar Aghasi, Modbar and Mash Ismail: “What sets Zanganeh apart from many ordinary painters is his point of view, both in terms of subject choice and in terms of color and texture. Describing Zanganeh's realistic approach, Ruyin Pakbaz wrote: "He tried to reflect the atmosphere of rural life in the unpretentious realism of his paintings."