TEHRAN – A book reviewing the foreign treasure trove preserved at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMCA) was unveiled during a ceremony at the museum on Tuesday.

“A Review of Foreign Works of TMCA” has been compiled by Mehdi Hosseini and published by Aban Publications.

Speaking at the ceremony, Hosseini said that he has written a book that can be understood by the public and not just by artists and intellectuals. 

“So, I decided to write a tangible introduction to the works, that is, a brief explanation about the education of artists, the period they have lived in, and the artistic groups they belonged to, followed by a description of the works.

He also said that he completed the book in 2010 and handed it over to the museum, but 6 years elapsed before it was published due to the museum’s financial problems.

“We finally negotiated with a private publisher, Aban, which helped publish the book,” he added.

Scholar Soltan Kashefi called Hosseini a good painter and an expert, and the best choice for the compilation of the book.

“I cannot hide my happiness over the publication of the book. We lack adequate archives for artworks. We do not have many books about our modern and contemporary artists. After all these years a book has been published about the museum and this is good news,” he said.

The Center for Visual Arts director and the former director of the museum, Majid Mollanoruzi, also spoke of the importance of the book and said that it provides comprehensive information about the artworks and the artists.

He added that the entire works of the museum have been photographed and are due to be published in five volumes. 

Works by many august artists of the West, including Claude Monet, Francis Bacon, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Donald Judd, Andy Warhol, René Magritte, Duane Hanson and Chuck Close, are kept in the treasure trove of the museum.

A selection of the works is currently displayed on the walls of the museum.

Photo: Iranian artist Hossein Mahjubi unveils some copies of “A Review of Foreign Works of TMCA” at the TMCA on May 30, 2017. (Mehr/Asghar Khamseh)

RM/YAW