Picasso masterpieces go on display for the first time in Iran after decades hidden away in a vault
More than two dozen masterpieces by Pablo Picasso, hidden away for over three decades, were unveiled to the public last week at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA).
The exhibition features 26 iconic works spanning different periods of the Spanish painter and sculptor’s life, including Portrait of a Man, Cry of War, and Echo of Sorrow. Also on display is The Painter and His Model, Picasso’s 1927 work and the largest canvas from his post-cubism period, alongside 53 other paintings. Twelve of the 26 aquatint prints from La Tauromaquia, a rare 1957 portfolio, showcase Picasso’s fascination with Spain’s bullfighting culture.
These works are part of a remarkable modern art collection of nearly 4,000 pieces held by TMoCA, most of which have remained out of public view since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“The themes of our exhibitions often depend on showcasing part of our collection, and currently, we are focusing on works by Picasso, a name that doesn’t need an introduction,” Hassan Nouferasti, TMoCA’s public relations director, told NBC News.
The museum is also displaying paintings by American artists such as Alexander Calder.
“It can’t be better than this,” said Parisa Hosseini, a 33-year-old painter and musician who visited the exhibition.
At an event on Tuesday, Iran’s Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs, Nadereh Rezai, praised Picasso’s revolutionary impact on global art and emphasized Iran’s significant contributions to contemporary art.
TMoCA was inaugurated in 1977 by Farah Pahlavi, Iran’s former queen, and played a pioneering role in collecting modern and contemporary art from Europe and America. The collection includes works by van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Dali, housed in a purpose-built modernist structure.
However, after the monarchy was overthrown in 1979, many of the museum’s artworks were locked away as clerics deemed them inappropriate due to nudity and other sensitive themes. Over the years, TMoCA has slowly reclaimed its cultural standing. In 2012, it hosted a show featuring pop artists Andy Warhol, David Hockney, and Roy Lichtenstein. In 2024, the museum’s Eye to Eye exhibition, featuring long-hidden Western works, was extended twice due to public demand.
TMoCA’s collection is estimated to be worth between $3 billion and $4 billion, with a single Jackson Pollock painting valued at $600 million to $700 million. “The significance of this collection goes beyond numbers,” Nouferasti said.
For Americans, the new Picasso exhibition will remain inaccessible due to U.S. travel restrictions and warnings about political unrest in Iran. However, within Iran, where strict laws on women’s dress and public gatherings exist, the exhibition “offers another perspective on Iranian society and culture, one rarely highlighted outside Iran,” said Hamid Keshmirshekan, an art historian at London’s SOAS University.
Credit: NBC News
