The seventh Tehran auction was held at Parsian Azadi Hotel last week and 72 classic and modern works were offered for sale. In total, 71 works were sold at auction for a total price of 260 billion IRR ($7.9m). Last year, 80 works were auctioned for a total price of 250 billion IRR.
This year, the auction was held in memory of Abbas Kiarostami, famed Iranian director who passed away a year ago. The auction started with a photograph from this artist’s Snow White Series which was sold for 2.2 billion IRR.
The most expensive artwork sold at this auction was a painting by Sohrab Sepehri. This untitled work was part of this artist’s most famous series, Tree Trunks. This 190 x 130 painting was created in 1972 and was sold for 31 billion IRR. This painting is now considered the most expensive work of art in the history of Iran.
Sohrab Sepehri, painter and poet, was born on October 7th 1928 in Kashan and passed away on April 21st 1980 in Tehran. He is considered one of the most important contemporary Iranian poets and his series of poems titled “Hasht Ketab” or Eight Books has been translated into a number of languages.
The second most expensive work was a single copy sculpture from Parviz Tanavoli, titled The Poet and The Bronze Cage which was created in 1999. This sculpture was sold for 25 Billion IRR.
A tragic painting by Bahman Mohasses titled The Blind Eagle as well as another painting by Sohrab Sepehri shared the title for the third most expensive pieces each sold for 12 billion IRR.
