TEHRAN-The 20th Tehran Auction was held on Friday at Tehran’s Parsian Azadi Hotel, where it realized over $3 million.

At the auction, which included 115 works by modern and contemporary Iranian artists, 107 pieces, over 93 percent of the offered lots, were sold at over 1,900 billion rials ($3.175 million), Khabar Online reported.

Voice-over artist and actor Shahryar Rabbani served as the auctioneer at this edition, which presented 99 paintings and calligraphic paintings, 12 sculptures, and four photos.

A total of 65 buyers participated in the auction, 15 of whom did so for the first time. Of the 115 sold lots, 41 items were sold at prices higher than 10 billion rials ($16,667).

The highest-grossing piece at the auction was a painting titled “End of an Era” from the “Memories of Destruction” series by Aydin Aghdashloo which was sold for $205,333.

The second most expensive work was a piece of mixed media on canvas by Farhad Moshiri titled “Black Numbers on White”, realizing $187,000.

An untitled calligraphic painting by Mohammad Ehsai was also among the top three works of the auction, sold for $183,333.

The auction also presented works by other renowned Iranian artists such as Aneh Mohammad Tatari, Kambiz Derambakhsh, Mokarrameh Ghanbari, Reza Bangiz, Taha Behbahani, Shirin Ettehadieh, Farshid Mesghali, Farideh Lashai, Hossein Mahjoubi, Nasrollah Afjei, Bita Vakili, Behzad Shishegaran, Reza Derakhshani, Mansour Ghandriz, Sirak Melkonian, Mohammad Ali Taraghijah, Mahmoud Zenderoudi, Nasser Assar, Ali Shirazi, Jazeh Tabatabai, and Sadegh Tabrizi among others.

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

It aims to address the increasing interest in modern and contemporary Iranian art and facilitate the acquisition of quality works in reliable ways.

Photo: From left: An untitled calligraphic painting by Mohammad Ehsai, “End of an Era” by Aydin Aghdashloo, “Black Numbers on White” by Farhad Moshiri

SS/SAB