The $3 billion art collection hidden in vaults

A recent article on the BBC Culture website tells the story of the modern art collection amassed by Farah Pahlavi, third wife and widow of the Shah of Iran.

Now 80 years old, Pahlavi is the subject of a new book, Iran Modern: The Empress of Art, by Viola Raikhel-Bolot and Miranda Darling. (As the book retails for £650 I am unlikely to buy it.)

Before her husband was deposed and exiled in Egypt, Pahlavi collected about 300 works of modern Western and Iranian art. Artists represented in the collection include Rothko, Picasso, Warhol, Bacon, Magritte, Renoir and Pollock. The collection is considered to be the greatest (and certainly the most valuable) collection of modern art outside Europe and North America. It was assembled in the early 1970's, funded by the National Iranian Oil Company on behalf of the state.

Pahlavi is also credited with the establishment of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, where the collection is now stored, but rarely on display. A touring exhibition to Berlin and Rome was planned for some of the art in 2017, but ultimately cancelled.

Many of the paintings have erotic themes, or feature nudes, and are unlikely to ever be exhibited publicly in Iran. Amazingly, the collection is entirely intact, with the exception of one exchange, made in clandestine circumstances. Pahlavi does not speculate on just why the current regime has held on to the collection.

A fascinating story. You can read it here. Thank you, Lauma, for bringing this article to my attention.