It’s one of the finest collections of modern art anywhere in the world, but you won’t find it in New York or Paris.
Dozens of works by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock — together valued at roughly $3 billion — are locked in a basement in Tehran.
Only a handful of westerners have had an up-close look at the underground archives in Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art. ABC News was granted exclusive access inside the vault that holds a priceless collection Iranian authorities choose to keep locked away.
What was revealed was astonishing: a series of paintings by Picasso; a wall’s worth of pop art by Roy Lichtenstein; Warhol portraits of Jackie Onassis, Mick Jagger and Marilyn Monroe; a Diego Rivera self portrait; and a painting many consider to be the best Jackson Pollock outside of North America.
The collection was supposed to be a gift to the Iranian people. It was assembled by the Shah of Iran and his wife using public funds during the oil boom of the 1970s. Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art was inaugurated in 1977, designed to be one of the world’s landmark modern art institutions, with an international collection worthy of that ambition.
But just months later came the Islamic Revolution. The Shah was deposed, Ayatollah Khomeinei was became the country’s leader, and in the Revolutionary, anti-American climate the museum’s western art was banished to the basement.
Why aren’t the pieces shown to the public? The reasons are a mix of ideology and practicality.
The collection is huge and the museum small. Museum director Dr. Habibollah Sadeghi, himself a painter appointed by conservative President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, says there is no space to properly put the works on display.
Others question whether the museum could properly protect the valuable pieces from theft or damage were they displayed openly.
Conservative Muslim ideology — a powerful governing force in Iran — has played a similarly forceful role in keeping the pieces underground. Aside from the anti-Western overtones of Revolutionary Iran many of the pieces are considered too racy for a conservative Muslim society. When some of the collection briefly went on display in 2005 Andre Derain’s “Golden Age,” a 1905 painting of female nudes, was notably absent. Also hidden was the centerpiece of a Frances Bacon painting triptych. The center panel could be taken as homoerotic, showing two naked men asleep in bed.
There are plans to display the collection permanently once museum space is expanded, Sadeghi said. If those plans materialize — full-time public access to view the pieces — it would fulfill the dreams of art lovers worldwide. “In two or three years we can improve the museum and have a permanent exhibition,” said Sadeghi, adding that the museum is hoping to buy more Western works in the coming years to fill out the collection.
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February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
So what? Western …
So what? Western museums such as the Metropolitan in New York have some millions of works of art that never were and never will be displayed to one single average person. The’ve bought some dozens of Renoirs to… keep them in the basement.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
lets bomb your …
lets bomb your mothers pussy…
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
XD…well thanks, i …
XD…well thanks, i appreciate that!!
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
pssst
pssst
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
i understood you ( …
i understood you (funny) ironic comment.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
well…that relly …
well…that relly was a critic to the media manipulaters, and i wasnt tryn to be funny, i was tryn to b iranic, oops, i mean ironic!!
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
wow you are really …
wow you are really funny…NOT
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
one more reason to …
one more reason to invade iran right??
hey, they got western art too, lets boomb the outta them XD!!
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
LONG LIVE PERSIA / …
LONG LIVE PERSIA / IRAN – islam, mullahs, islamic republic
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
You are an idiot if …
You are an idiot if you believe this, this along with billions more will be stolen by the arab mullahs. They have been stealing for three decades and they are not done. islam and mullahs. Long live PERSIA / IRAN.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
You must be a basij …
You must be a basij agent you trator. you and islam for ruinning our beautiful country. You ARAB DOGs. Long live PERSIA islam and mullahs.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Why do people …
Why do people insist on making this about politics?
It’s not.
I don’t know how much further I can dumb it down.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Fake American media …
Fake American media is doing everything to discredit Iran. Those paintings are kept in a safe place underground for security purposes. There are different occasions you can enjoy seeing the paintings. Just contact and ask them when. All you need is to buy a ticket to visit the galleries there.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Why do you think it …
Why do you think it will be out and you can enjoy it?
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
The fact that the …
The fact that the statement has to be explained is in itself pathetic.
Nothing about politics was stated.
Simply that a national government somewhere in the world was unfortunately withholding art that most of the world community considers beautiful, sacred, and amazing.
FYI.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Where is the world …
Where is the world to you? U.S?
U.S is just part of the world not the whole world FYI
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
It’s the exact same …
It’s the exact same in the Western World and in Japan. The best paintings belong to banks and private collectors who only show it to selected viewers once in a decade or less. What was shown in this video is nothing compared to what the Deutsche Bank bunkers.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
what a …
what a disappointment
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
we saw this amazing …
we saw this amazing gallery. Soon enough it will be out and we can all enjoy this art.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
people can do want …
people can do want they want with art. if people want to sell it then they give away the rights to dictate what they want to do with it.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
1:53 “and one day, …
1:53 “and one day, thy tell us they will destroy them all”
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
This makes me sick. …
This makes me sick.
This art belongs to the World.
Not in a basement.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
transitions are …
transitions are shitty: something is not right here.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Islam (like all …
Islam (like all religions) want to take over the world and they figure that when they do they will have all this art in a museum of “ancient infidel western art” lolololol
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
yeah and we “are …
yeah and we “are not selling” I like that