The treasures of art worth billions of “hidden” in Tehran

He is called one of the most treasures of art in the world, but few people outside his host country know about it.

For decades, masterpieces of the likes of Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol and Jackson Poland have been held in the basement of a museum in the capital of Iran Tehran, wrapped in mystery.

According to the 2018 grades, the collection is worth it up to $ 3 billion.S

Only a small part of the work was exposed by the Iranian Revolution in 1979, but in recent years the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran has shown some of its most captivating tracks.

The eye -to -eye exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran, which opened in October 2024, was extended twice due to the huge public demand that lasted until January 2025.

The display was considered one of the most significant exhibitions in the history of the museum, and also became its most visited.

The showcase included more than 15 works discovered for the first time, including Jean Dubufet's sculpture – noting his first appearance in an Iranian exhibition.

From abstract expressionism to pop art, the museum collection serves as a capsule for a time of major artistic movements.

Among the works of art is the portrait of Warhol of Farah Pahlavi – the last Queen of Iran – a rare piece combining his pop art with the Iranian cultural history.

Elsewhere, the work of Francis Bacon, called two figures lying on a bed with companions, shows figures that appear to spy on two naked men lying on a bed.

On the opposite wall in the basement of the museum, a portrait of Ayatola Ruhola Homeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is exposed to comparison.

The museum was built in 1977. Under the patronage of Pahlavi, the widow of the last chess of Iran, which was overthrown during the revolution.

Pahlavi was a passionate defender of art, and her cousin, architect Kamran Diba, designed the museum.

It was designed to introduce modern arts of Iranians and to overcome Iran closer to the international art scene.

The museum soon became the home of a stunning set of works of luminaries, including Picasso, Warhol and Salvador Dali, along with pieces of leading Iranian modernists, and quickly established itself as a beacon of cultural exchange and artistic ambition.

But then came the 1979 revolution. Iran became the Islamic Republic, as the monarchy was overthrown and the clergy took political control at Ayatola Homeini.

Many works of art are considered inappropriate for public display due to nudity, religious sensitivity or political consequences.

Gabriel of Pierre-August Renoir with an open blouse is considered too scandalous. And Warhol's portrait of the former Queen of Iran was too political. In fact, Pahlavi's portrait was vandalized and torn with a knife during revolutionary turmoil.

After the revolution, many of the works of art were closed, collecting dust in a basement, which became the legend of the art world.

It was not until the late 1990s that the museum regained its cultural significance during the Mohammed Hatami Reformation Presidency.

Suddenly the world remembered what was missing. Art lovers could not believe their eyes. Van Gogh, whether, even Monet – everything in Tehran.

Some pieces were allocated to large exhibitions in Europe and the United States, briefly associating the collection with the global world of art.

Hamid Keshmirzecan, a historian of the headquarters in London, studied the collection and calls it “one of the most treasures of contemporary art outside the West.”

The collection includes Henry's Moore series of Moore – an iconic piece of one of the most famous sculptors in the UK – and Jackson's murals on the Indian Red Earth, a life example of the technique of drawing the American with energy and emotion.

The artist's Picasso and his model – his largest canvas since 1927 – also differs, a strong example of his abstract works from the post -eshism period.

And there is a van Gogh in the Eternity Gate – one of the very rare survivors of his first print campaign, during which he produced six lithographs in November 1882.

But for art lovers in the UK, the collection is out of reach. The United Kingdom of Foreign Affairs advises against all trips to Iran and says that the British and British-Iranian dual citizens are at a significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention.

The presence of a British passport or connections with the United Kingdom may be sufficient grounds for detention by Iranian authorities, it is said.

There are challenges for the museum, which works on a strict budget. Changing political priorities means that it often functions more as a cultural center than the traditional museum.

Still, she continues to be a remarkable institution – unlikely a guardian of the modern masterpieces of art in the heart of Tehran.