TEHRAN-The 18th Tehran Auction for contemporary Iranian art, which was held online for the first time, grossed about 620 billion rial (over $1.235 million) on Friday night.

Of the total of 114 artworks by 113 contemporary veteran and young artists specializing in painting, sculpture, and photography, all but two works were sold, Honaronline reported.

A Bijar rug with LED neons created by veteran painter and sculptor Parviz Tanavoli titled “Farangi Woman on Persian Carpet II” in 2019 was sold for 55 billion rials ($110,000) to become the most expensive work of this edition.

Works by painters Aydin Aghdashloo and Massoud Arabshahi fetched the next highest price, going under the hammer at 46.2 billion rials ($92,400) both.

Aghdashloo’s work was a gouache-on-cardboard painting titled “Enigma 92” dating back to 2012 and Arabshahi’s untitled artwork was mixed media on canvas painted in 1986.

The only artist who had two works at the event was the veteran painter Parviz Kalantari. His two untitled artworks finished in the 5th and 13th place of the most expensive items at the event. 

His oil and straw on canvas painted in 2009, with an estimated value of 30 to 40 billion rials ($60,000 to 80,000) was sold for 34.1 billion rials ($68,200) and his mixed media on canvas dating back to 1988 with an estimated value of 10 to 15 billion rials ($20,000 to 30,000) went under the hammer for 11 billion rials ($22,000).

In addition to works by renowned artists such as Mohammad Ehsai, Parvaneh Etemadi, Yadollah Derakhshani, Kamran Diba, Kurosh Shishegaran, and Farshid Mesghali, works from young artists such as Zahra Sadri, Hossein Mohammadi, Faramarz Khani, Mostafa Chubtarash, Zahra Amir-Yeganeh, Maedeh Amiri, Taher Purheidari, Zahra Shafi, and Roshana Rostami were also present at the auction. 

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.

The event is aimed at addressing the increasing interest in modern and contemporary Iranian art and facilitating the acquisition of quality works in reliable ways.

In previous years, the Tehran Auction held separate contemporary and modern art auctions in summer and winter, but this year, the organizers included an online auction to bridge the gap between the two events. 

Caption: The most expensive artworks of the 18th Tehran Auction by Parviz Tanavoli (L), Massoud Arabshahi (C), and Aydin Aghdashloo.

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