Tehran Auction 2017 breaks record – again

TEHRAN (iranart) – In the year of resistance economy Iranian art has proven to be an irrefutable champion. It has sent shockwaves through the art market, perhaps yet another sign that the economy has finally got out of the long-standing recession.

Iranart : The 7th edition of Tehran Auction was held on 7 July at Parisan Hotel in the capital city where the best of Iranian artworks were introduced and sold to collectors. The auction broke its previous records with 6 artworks selling for over one billion tomans and 13 others for over half a billion tomans. 

Seventy-one works were presented in classic and modern categories, including pieces by Abbas Kiarostami, Manouchehr Yektaei, and Parviz Kalantari. The total proceeds of the auction stood at just over 26.1 billion tomans. This is while in the previous event and despite selling 80 items the total proceeds stood at 25 billion tomans!

An untitled painting (trees) by celebrated poet and painter Sohrab Sepehri, at 3.1 billion tomans, became the most expensive painting sold in the auction. It’s the most expensive artwork in Iranian art history. There were also other A-list artists, including Parviz Tanavoli, Bahman Mohasses, Manouchehr Yektai, and Kamalolmolk, whose works sold at over one billion tomans. It’s welcome news for the Iranian art market in the region and beyond.

Meaning, in the year of resistance economy Iranian art has proven to be an irrefutable champion. It has sent shockwaves through the market, perhaps yet another sign that the national economy has finally got out of the long-standing recession. 

Actor Hossein Pakdel conducted the auction after paying tribute to Abbas Kiarostami. The first artwork hammered on Friday was an untitled piece from the Snow White series by Abbas Kiarostami at 22 million tomans.

The second work that attracted large sums included Poet and Cage by sculptor Parviz Tanavoli (2.5 billion tomans), Blind Eagle by Bahman Mohasses (1.2 billion tomans), and another untitled painting from the Tree Trunks series by Sepehri (1.2 billion tomans).

A 135-year-old painting by Mohammad Ghafari (also known as Kamalolmolk) entitled Royal Camp sold at 1.15bt followed by a 1962 painting by Manouchehr Yektai at 1.1bt.

Artworks selling at just over half a billion tomans included 2 pieces by Monir Farmanfarmaian (850mt), Hossein Zendehroudi (850mt), Manouchehr Yektai (750mt), Mahmoud Farshchian (700mt), Mohammad Ehsai (700mt), and Bahman Mohasses (500mt). Other sales are as follows:

Aydin Aghdashloo (440mt) – Puzzle No. 16

Kourosh Shishegaran (430mt) – Inside, Outside

Mansour Ghandriz (420mt)

Mirza Agha Emami (400mt)

Hossein Kazemi (400mt)

Hossein Zendehroudi (400mt)

Parviz Tanavoli (360mt) – Hich on the Seat

Nasrollah Afjei (340mt)

Parviz Kalantari (300mt)

Mohammad Ehsai (300mt)

Zhazeh Tabatabai (280mt) Sound and Silence

Behjat Sadr (260mt)

Reza Mafi (250mt)

Marco Gregorian (250mt)

Naser Osar (240mt)

Abolghasem Saeidi (220mt)

Layla Matin Daftari (220mt)

Sirak Malkonian (220mt)

Mohsen Vaziri Moghadam (220mt)

Masoud Arabshahi (220mt)

Abbas Kiarostami (220mt)

Hossein Mahjoubi (200mt)

19 other items sold at over 100 million tomans, including:

Agha Bala Naghashbashi, Mehdi Vishkai, and Masoud Arabshahi (190mt)

Gholamhossein Nami and Hossein Khatai (180mt)

Jafar Rouhbakhsh and Naser Osar (170mt)

Reza Mafi (160mt)

Manouchehr Niazi, Kourish Shishegaran, Mehdi Vishkai and Behjat Sadr (150mt)

Mash Esmail, Houshang Pezeshknia and Zhazeh Tabatabai (130mt)

Manouchehr Motabar (110mt)

Ali Mohammad Heydarian, Ahmad Esfandiari and Hossein Taherzadeh (100mt).

17 items were hammered below 100 million tomans:

Siavash Kasrai (95mt)

Abdolreza Daryageigi, Davoud Madadian, Alireza Aspand, Naser Ovisi, Hossein Arzhangi, and Mohammad Ali Zavieh (90mt)

Mahmoud Javadipour (85mt)

Sonia Balasanian (80mt)

Mehdi Sahabi and Ahmad Esfandiari (75mt)

Jafar Rouhbakhsh (70mt)

Majid Mehrgan (60mt)

Garnik Darhakoupian (55mt)

Hadi Hazavei (42mt)

Ali Akbar Sanati (40mt)

Hossein Sheikh (36mt).

In the end, only one classic piece by Javad Rostan Shirazi didn’t sell.

Speaking at the end of the auction, Deputy Culture Minister in Art Affairs Ali Moradkhani lauded the art event for its superb performance as well as the initiative by Alireza Samiazar to hold it. He said the Ministry of Culture and the minister himself will continue to support the seasonal auction by all means possible.

Moradkhani said the ministry bought two works by Kamalolmolk and Behjat Sadr to put on display at the Contemporary Museum of Art. He also promised to purchase more works by younger artists for the museum in the upcoming auction slated for the fall.

The first of its kind in Iran, Tehran Auction was launched in 2012 as an independent and private initiative to introduce the best of Iranian art ranging from established and emerging artists to art collectors and global audiences.