TMOCA publishes book on treasured artworks

The treasured foreign art collection at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMOCA) has been featured in a new book titled ‘A Review of Foreign Works in TMOCA’.

The book was unveiled this week in a ceremony at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in the Iranian capital city.

‘A Review of Foreign Works in TMOCA’ contains explanations of each work and a description of the personal information, artistic education and art movements of the artists involved.

The comprehensive source also contains images and information on the works and their creators.

“All the treasured works have been photographed with the best and high-quality images and their complete information is scheduled to be published in five volumes,” said Majid MollaNorouzi, director of the museum.

The appealing feature of the book is its comprehensible descriptions for the public as well as scholars and experts.

“I was asked (to write the book) and to do it in a way that is also comprehensible for the public and not just art scholars and experts. So I did my best to give a tangible description of the works,” said Mehdi Hasani, veteran artist and art researcher.

TMOCA has more than 4,000 items that include 19th and 20th century world-class Iranian, European and American paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures, including an impressive collection of artworks by celebrated western artists Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Claude Monet, Alberto Giacometti, Francis Bacon, Pablo Picasso and Mark Rothko, among others.

“Fortunately, when I was studying in the US in the 1960s, many of the great artists (whose works are in the museum today) lived in New York and I had the chance to meet some of them in person. In the institute where I studied, sometimes they were invited to hold a workshop for us or see our works and comment on them,” Hasani said.

A selection of artworks from the treasured collection is currently on display for the public at the museum and will run until June 16.

The museum’s collection of modern western art is thought to be worth more than 2.5 billion dollars in total, more than any other collection outside of the United States and Europe.

AI/AI