Iran Displaying Little Seen Modern Art Masterpieces

While the work of artists such as Monet, Picasso and Warhol are enjoyed by art-lovers around the world (and many of the artists' images are as recognizable and well-known as McDonald's Golden Arches), the masterpieces of famed Western Artists were not appreciated by the leaders of Iran's Islamic revolution, and thus, they were kept out of view in the nation for decades.

Now, one of the greatest collections of contemporary Western art - put together under a Western-leaning monarchy before the revolution in Iran - is open to the public at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, with some works on display for the first time in over 30 years!

In a land where the US is considered the "great Satan" and where decadent music, movies and other popular culture entities are seen as "Godless," the exhibition is full of Iranian cultural contradictions. (For example, a colorful Roy Lichtenstein bronze portrays a giant glass filled with a fruity cocktail - an uncommon site in Iran, where alcohol is banned).

Visitors entering the museum will first see images of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (picture, above), the founder of the Islamic Republic, and his successor as supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. These portraits are compulsory features of all public buildings throughout Iran.

The galleries of the stark concrete museum - built especially to house the collection during the latter years of American ally, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's reign - are works by pretty much every major Western artist of the late 19th and 20th centuries.

The exhibition, which runs through the summer, includes French impressionist paintings, Van Gogh lithographs, the self-portrait of Edvard Munch, sculptures by Picasso, Henry Moore and Alberto Giacometti, and more.

The collection contains around 4,000 pieces and has always been stored in good conditions. Furthermore, Iran's authorities have no desire to suppress the exhibiting of the collection, but there is no room in the museum to display the entire collection at once. Hopefully, in the future, the museum will be able to mount theme-based exhibitions, rotating the collection through various schools of art.

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