TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Some of the world’s most prized works of contemporary Western art have gone on display for the first time in decades in Tehran.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline cleric, criticizes Western influence. The authorities have criticized the “deviant” artists for “attacking Iran’s revolutionary culture”. And the Islamic Republic has plunged further into confrontation with the United States and Europe as it rapidly accelerates its nuclear program and diplomatic efforts stall.
But contradictions abound in the Iranian capital, where thousands of men in heels and hijab-clad women marveled at the American and European minimalist and conceptual masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries that are on display this summer for the first time at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Tehran. .
On a recent August afternoon, art critics and students were enthralled by Marcel Duchamp’s transparent 1915 mural, “The Large Glass,” long interpreted as an exploration of erotic frustration.
They viewed a rare 13-foot (4-meter) untitled sculpture by American minimalist pioneer Donald Judd and one of Sol Lewitt’s best-known serial pieces, “Open Cube,” among other important works. Judd’s sculpture, which consists of a horizontal series of lacquered brass and aluminum panels, is likely worth millions of dollars.
“Organizing an exhibition with this theme and these works is a bold move that requires a lot of courage,” said Babak Bahari, 62, who was viewing the 130-work exhibit for the fourth time since it opened in late june “Even in the West, these works are at the center of discussions and dialogue.”
The government of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and his wife, the former Empress Farah Pahlavi, built the museum and acquired the multibillion-dollar collection in the late 1970s, when oil boomed and Western economies stagnated. Upon opening, it showcased sensational works by Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko, Claude Monet, Jackson Pollock and other heavyweights, enhancing Iran’s cultural standing on the world stage.
But just two years later, in 1979, Shiite clerics ousted the shah and packed the art into the museum’s vault. Some paintings (Cubist, Surrealist, Impressionist, even Pop Art) remained untouched for decades to avoid offending Islamic values and cater to Western sensibilities.
But during a thaw in Iran’s hardline politics, art began to resurface. Although Andy Warhol’s paintings of the Pahlavis and a few choice nudes are still hidden in the basement, much of Warhol’s collection has seen a big sale as Iran’s cultural restrictions loosen. they have relieved
The ongoing exhibition on minimalism, featuring 34 Western artists, has attracted particular attention. More than 17,000 people have taken the ride since it opened, the museum said, nearly double the number of previous shows.
Curator Behrang Samadzadegan credits a recent renewed interest in conceptual art, which first shocked the public in the 1960s by drawing on political themes and taking art out of traditional galleries and into the wider world.
Museum spokesman Hasan Noferesti said the size of the crowd for the exhibition, which runs until mid-September, shows the excitement of experiencing long-hidden modern masterpieces.
It also attests to the enduring appetite for art among the young Iranian generation. More than 50% of the country’s approximately 85 million people are under the age of 30.
Despite their country’s growing global isolation and fears that their already limited social and cultural freedoms could be further curtailed under the hardline government elected a year ago, young Iranians are increasingly exploring the art world international in social networks. New galleries are buzzing. Schools of art and architecture are thriving.
“These are good works of art, you don’t want to imitate them,” said Mohammad Shahsavari, a 20-year-old architecture student standing in front of Lewitt’s cube structure. “Rather, you’re inspired by them.”
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Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.