The Monir Museum devoted to artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian opened its doors in a former palace in Tehran. The 93-year-old artist gave the institution 50 works from her personal collection.
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian in her studio (1975). A shot from the film Monir, 2016. Photo: courtesy of the author and The Third Line gallery
The museum houses life’s work of Monir Farmanfarmaian representing different stages of the artist’s career.
“I can leave this country with a representation of my life’s work,” Farmanfarmaian told the Art Newspaper. “My love for my culture is in everything I create.”
Farmanfarmaian donated the museum more than 50 works spanning 60 years from her personal collection. The donation was done through a vakif, a charitable endowment under Islamic law.
Monir Farmanfarmaian at her exhibition at the Guggenheim, New York. Photo: Todd Heisler/NY Times/Redux/eyevine
The collection includes glass pieces with geometric patterns and references to Islamic art, several works from the Heartache series, collages, prints and other artworks. Atguide.com quotes the artist’s representative as saying: “It is an honour for Monir to be recognised in her country of origin with the establishment of this new institution.”
The artist was born in the town of Qazvin in 1924 and moved to New York in 1945 to study painting. She lived and worked in Iran until the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which made her and her husband flee the country, leaving her art collection that included works by Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder and Tom Wesselmann. She returned to Iran in 2004. Despite her age and illnesses, Monir still works in her studio in Tehran with the aid of several assistants.
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