Posted on 02/17/2025 6:11:15 PM PST by BenLurkin
For decades, masterpieces by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock have been kept in the basement of a museum in Iran's capital Tehran, shrouded in mystery.
According to estimates in 2018, the collection is worth as much as $3bn.
Only a small portion of the work has been exhibited since the 1979 Iranian Revolution but in recent years, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art has been showcasing some of its most captivating pieces.
The showcase featured more than 15 works unveiled for the first time, including a sculpture by Jean Dubuffet - marking its first-ever appearance in an Iranian exhibition.
The museum was built in 1977 under the patronage of Pahlavi, the exiled widow of the last Shah of Iran who was overthrown during the revolution.
It was established to introduce modern art to Iranians and to bridge Iran closer to the international art scene.
The museum soon became home to a stunning array of works by luminaries including Picasso, Warhol and Salvador Dali, alongside pieces by leading Iranian modernists, and quickly established itself as a beacon of cultural exchange and artistic ambition.
The collection includes Henry's Moore's Reclining Figure series - an iconic piece by one of Britain's most celebrated sculptors - and Jackson Pollock's Mural on Indian Red Ground, a vibrant example of the American's painting technique pulsing with energy and emotion.
Picasso's The Painter and His Model - his largest canvas from 1927 - also features, a strong example of his abstract works from the post-cubism period.
And there is Van Gogh's At Eternity's Gate - one of the very rare survivals of his first printmaking campaign during which he produced six lithographs in November 1882.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Interesting. Once again demonstrating that Iranians are not Arabs. ISIS/FSA/Al Qeida, Taliban etc would have burned them in the courtyard.
Iranians know the value of them.
Jackson Pollock lol. He was funded by the CIA to make crappy paintings that were supposed to somehow make the Soviets upset that they were not “modern” or something.
Kinda funny that the Iranians wound up with one and thought it was good art.
Or maybe they don’t care and hope to pawn it off on some other sap for even more. Probably to a Saudi.
Jackson Pollock isn’t Art, because if I could do it, it ain’t Art.
Tehran used to be civilized.
Then the religion of hate took control.
Shazam.....back to the dark ages.
And so goes the legacy...
I guess it’s easier to drag an entire country back to the 7th Century, than it is to drag them out.
*PING* :)
The drapery on that Rockwell is impeccable.
I’m just bummed there are no Hunter Bidens in the mix. Now, THAT’S art!
Norman Rockwell
bttt
“masterpieces” lol
I don’t mind a Pollock. They’re interesting to look at. Would I own one? Well, I can’t afford one, but I’d take it if it was a gift. ;)
Whatever it is that he does, no one else seems able to do it, so there’s that.
I had a print (of course!) of Picasso’s ‘Bouquet of Peace’ on my bedroom wall as a teenager.
My Mom was very insistent that we girls know art and artists when we were growing up. Many trips to The Art Institute of Chicago. Thanks, Mom!
I’ll take a Cassatt, a Renoir or a Monet over those above.
My favorite artist is Andrew Wyeth. I own three of his prints and a large art book of his ‘Helga’ years.
‘Groundhog Day’
‘Wind from the Sea’
‘Master Bedroom’
...are the prints of his that I own.
What he did was have the name "Jackson Pollock".
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