TEHRAN- The 22nd edition of the Tehran Auction, a prestigious event highlighting contemporary art in Iran, will focus on traditional, classical, and modern Iranian arts, featuring 100 works that illustrate the rich history of Iranian art.

The increasing prevalence of Islamic art auctions in international auction houses has facilitated the export of valuable historical Iranian pieces, as announced by the public relations office of the Tehran Auction in a press release on Monday.

In response to this trend and the existence of a largely opaque and underground market for traditional and classical Iranian art, the Tehran Auction will present an exceptional collection that includes paintings, calligraphy, manuscript writing, and pictorial carpets, alongside modern Iranian artworks.

Over the past decade, the Tehran Auction has aimed to stabilize the pricing of contemporary artworks and foster a thriving art market in the country, thereby enhancing the status of collectors and boosting the Iranian art economy.

In light of the growing number of international Islamic art auctions, this edition seeks to compile works from past centuries of Iranian art. The goal is to stabilize prices for traditional and classical pieces, thereby preventing the illegal export of these items for sale at foreign auctions and facilitating the aggregation of historical Iranian art.

The 22nd Tehran Auction will display 100 modern, classical, and traditional artworks, showcasing a collection that spans from the Safavid era to contemporary times. This exhibition has been curated based on a profound understanding of Iran's visual history over the past four centuries, presenting remarkable examples of Iranian art.

The painting segment of this year's auction includes works by the famous Safavid-era painter Reza Abbasi and traces the historical evolution of this art form through his students—such as Moein Mosavar, Mohammad Qassem, and Mohammad Yousef—up to painters from the Zand and Qajar periods like Aqa Najaf Esfahani, Aqa Sadeq, and Mohammad Hassan Afshar Urumi.

This year’s auction will also feature works from students of the Kamal-ol-Molk school, including Ali Mohammad Heydarian and Hossein Sheikh, alongside pieces by modernist artists such as Hossein Kazemi and Ahmad Esfandiari. This combination provides an unparalleled offering based on Iran's visual history for art collectors.

The calligraphy section will include pieces from the Timurid period to the modern era, reflecting the preservation of this art form throughout different historical periods in Iran. The collection features works from notable figures like Darvish Abdolmajid Taleqani, Mirza Gholamreza Esfahani, Esmaeil Astarabadi, and Mir Hossein Khoshnevisbashi, as well as contemporary Iranian calligraphy masters like Gholam-Hossein Amirkhani, Yadollah Kabuli, Abbas Akhavein, and Keykhosro Khorush.

Additionally, the auction will include pictorial carpets and lacquered boxes. These pieces represent a segment of Iranian visual art that has emerged in woven forms and practical items, embodying the narrative of Iranian pictorial history.

Another highlight of this auction will be the ancient art of Iranian toreutics, which holds a significant place in major museums worldwide. This edition will present valuable examples of this art from the Safavid, Qajar, and contemporary periods to interested buyers.

The 22nd Tehran Auction is set to take place on Friday, and art enthusiasts can visit the exhibition of these works at the Parsian Azadi Hotel in Tehran on February 12 and 13.

Last October, the 21st edition of the Tehran Auction concluded with an impressive total sales figure of 1.2 trillion rials ($2 million). 

The online event saw 132 out of the 140 artworks up for bidding successfully sold, with 51 artworks exceeding their highest estimated bids, while 81 pieces sold within the range of estimated minimums and maximums.

Top sales figures included an untitled piece by Monir Farmanfarmaian that incorporates mirror work, reverse painting on glass, and plaster on wood from the 1970s, reaching a staggering 116 billion rials ($194,000), followed by Aydin Aghdashloo with his work titled "Summer, Winter” from the “Occidentals" series, at 112 billion rials ($187,000). 

The third highest was Reza Derakhshani’s painting, “Counting Days and Nights, Every Day and Every Night," which sold for 101 billion rials ($168,000).

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.

SAB/