By Firouzeh Nabavi
A major work by the renowned Iranian artist Bahman Mohasses (1931-2010) will be auctioned at Christie’s in New York on Nov. 22. “Young Minotaur Finding a Piece of Thread” (1985) was a gift of the artist to Empress Farah Pahlavi and will be sold to benefit the Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi Foundation (SFPF).
The work is estimated at $380,000 to $550,000. It will be auctioned as part of the prestigious post-war and contemporary art day sale at Christie’s, alongside works by Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning and Frank Stella.
The Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi Foundation is a non-political organization that was established on Nov. 5, 2024 by the Empress and that has “the mission to inspire the global advancement of social and cultural causes through the legacy of Farah Pahlavi’s guiding principles of empathy, positive thinking and championing of cross-cultural dialogue,” according to its inaugural statement.
“Today, more than ever, the world needs understanding, unity, and empathy,” said Empress Farah in the statement. “My hope is that through this Foundation, we can create meaningful impact, inspire positive change, and bring communities closer together. I am certain that light shall prevail over darkness.”
The Lisbon-based philanthropic foundation was created to build on the original Shahbanou Farah Foundation. Established in Iran in 1976, it was set up with the goal of keeping Iran’s cultural heritage alive, encouraging new artistic endeavors, expanding public access even in rural areas to cultural events and venues as well as educating people, particularly Iran’s youth, about Iranian and world culture.
“SFPF aims to support cultural initiatives and become a platform for bridging cultures and creating dialogues, drawing inspiration from a rich legacy including the Shiraz Arts Festival,” the Foundation added.
During her reign, Empress Farah was an active patron of the arts, and the driving force behind the creation of numerous museums, including the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts (TMoCA), with its now-priceless collection of Western and Iranian art by artists ranging from Jackson Pollock and Francis Bacon to Sohrab Sepeheri and Bahman Mohasses.
Mohasses – nicknamed the “Persian Picasso” and one of Iran’s greatest 20th-century artists — was among the artists who were grateful to the Empress for having supported them throughout her reign. He chose to show his gratitude by gifting her a remarkable minotaur painting in the late 1980s.
The modern-art master was born in Rasht, northern Iran, in March 1931. After the coup d’etat against Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, he left Iran for Rome, becoming one of the very first Iranian students to enroll at the Art Academy there. While living in the Italian capital, he was exposed to Cubism, Surrealism and other 20th-century modern art movements. His art soon started to reflect those influences.
Mohasses returned to Iran in 1964, and lived and worked there for four years. During the 1960s, Mohasses participated in the Venice, Sao Paulo and Tehran Biennales. He also wrote poetry and essays, translated works of European literature, and staged avant-garde plays in Tehran. At around the same time, he had large-scale works commissioned for public squares in Iran; some of these were destroyed after the 1978-79 Revolution.
From 1968 onwards, he settled more or less permanently in Rome, and only made occasional trips back to his homeland. He lived for decades in a Rome hotel, and was a reclusive and mysterious figure. He also made a habit of destroying his paintings and sculptures; in 2006, on a trip to Tehran, he destroyed many of the works still remaining in his atelier there.
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