The 14th edition of the now-biannual auction event organized by Tehran Auction has grossed 421.8 billion rials (more than $10 million according to the mid-market rates confirmed by xe.com).
The highest-earning painting (shown above) was Reza Derakhshani’s Counting Days and Nights, Every Day and Every Night.
The mixed-media painting with fig leaves on canvas, measuring 1.8 m x 4 m and created in 2017, fetched 52 billion rials (about $1.24 million).
A total of 120 lots of modern and contemporary Iranian works of art were offered during the auction held at Tehran’s Parsian Azadi Hotel.
Blue Dome I, a mixed-media on linen by YZ Kami, aka Kamran Youssefzadeh, was the second-most expensive work sold at the sale. It fetched 46 billion rials (around $1.1 million).
The third-most expensive work at the sale was We the Roses, a painting by Farhad Moshiri, who created the artwork in 2012. It fetched 42 billion rials (just about $1 million).
It was followed by Abandoned Emperor, an oil painting on canvas created by Vahed Khakdan in 2017, which sold for 17 billion rials (a little more than $400,000).
The 13th Tehran Auction held on January 15 grossed about 880 billion rials (about $20.94 million).
Started in 2012 as an annual event, Tehran Auction has since 2018 been held regularly as a biannual event in January and June.
However, the June 2020 event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.