Iran’s Art Market Shows Strong Demand Despite Sanctions and Hurdles to Foreign Buying

Iran continues to grow its art market, even if the market seems to consist of a single annual sale. The fourth edition of the Teheran art auction has been another rousing success bringing in £4.3m, according to the Guardian:

A tree trunk painting by celebrated Iranian poet and painter Sohrab Sepehri sold for around 28bn rials (£560,000), becoming the most expensive painting ever sold in Iran. Other works that attracted large sums include those of the New York-based artist Manoucher Yektai and sculptor Parviz Tanavoli, as well as pieces by Bahman Mohassess and Aydin Aghdashloo.

“It exceeded our expectations,” a Tehran auction spokeswoman told the Guardian. “We sold almost 180% … [of] what we had estimated. We had buyers both from inside and outside Iran. Out of 126 works that had been presented, 125 of them were sold.”

Due to sanctions, Iran’s banking system is cut off from the outside world but that did not stop international bidders participating in the auction. “Foreigners had an intermediary paying on their behalf in Tehran,” the spokeswoman said. The event was sponsored by Samsung’s Iran branch, among other companies.

Tehran auction shifts millions of pounds worth of art in spite of sanctions | World news (The Guardian)