The Iranian museum showcases the works of Western artists and some that are part of a treasure trove of amassed art before the Islamic Revolution. The collection at the museum includes multi-million-dollar pieces, much of which have never been showcased since the 1979 revolution.
The exhibition features 132 works by 34 world-famous contemporary artists that include notable names such as Marcel Duchamp, Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, and the duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude. “Minimalism and Conceptual Art” is the overarching theme of the exhibition and the attendance at the museum has allowed the museum to realize the genuine enthusiasm people have for art in Iran, and after the long closures due to the pandemic, this is a great way for the museum to open its doors to the public.
Visitors at the museum this week would stop and admire the details of the artwork, while others would take photos as they made their way through the museum.
For Rajabi, a visitor “I loved the last room of the exhibit in particular, where the artist had worked with the fluorescent light,” referring to American artist Dan Flavin’s “Untitled” work.
The museum was inaugurated in 1977 during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was deposed by Islamic revolutionaries two years later. Most of the collection was built up by the shah’s wife, former queen Farah Pahlavi, who deployed a team of experts to tour Western auctions and snap up prestigious paintings and sculptures to boost the country’s cultural profile.
Its design was inspired by Iran’s desert wind towers — an architectural element used to catch and circulate cool air in hot environments. The museum also holds an important collection of Iranian modern and contemporary art.
These international works of art went underground after the Islamic Republic’s founder Ruhollah Khomeini railed against “Westoxification,” deploring Western moral and sexual depravity which he said had infected the Islamic world.
The museum counts some 3,500 works, hundreds of which are “very valuable,” head of public relations Hassan Noferesti said. They include masterpieces by Western artists from Paul Gauguin to Pablo Picasso, Rene Magritte, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and Alberto Giacometti, according to Iran’s culture ministry.
This show will run until mid-September and has already seen an attendance of about 20,000 people. According to Curator Behrang Samadzadegan, that is twice the normal turnout.
The theme of the exhibition is an interesting concept due to the nature of minimalism and how it can be interpreted differently. The works that one would find in the museum, would help everyone realize that when we talk about minimalism it is not about the work directly but rather the environment in which it is viewed and understood.