Following the 2009 financial crisis and the subsequent phase of global economic recovery, the art market also experienced a renewed momentum and significant growth. This widespread transformation has intensified the demand for specialized and protective services within the art sector, including art insurance.Art insurance is a specialized financial coverage designed to support colle...

During the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel in June 2025, artistic activities within Iran were temporarily suspended and gradually resumed, while the international presence of Iranian artists continued uninterrupted. Historical evidence from the World War II era suggests that in times of crisis, art can serve as a temporary safe haven for capital. However, such wartime booms...

In Spring 2025, three dedicated auctions focusing on Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern art were held alongside the 23rd edition of the Tehran Auction. Altogether, these events generated a total sales volume of approximately $9.6 million. Among the Middle Eastern sales, Lebanese artists led the charts, while the Tehran Auction alone accounted for nearly $2.2 million in sales of...

Artchart's 1403 SH (March 2024–2025) report offers a comprehensive analysis of the Iranian art market, highlighting key trends and developments over the past decade. It covers auction house activity, top-selling cities, leading Iranian artists, high-value artworks, and the most active galleries and urban centers across the country.Download the full report from the attachment to expl...

Artchart, a data-mining platform for the Iranian art market, has analyzed economic data since 2019. Since 2022, it has published annual reports on Iran’s art market and, in 2024, expanded to regional analyses. In 2025, Artchart further broadened its scope by examining the role and behavior of key players in Iran’s art scene.Its first report on Iranian art collectors and buyers explo...

Over the past two years, the global art market has faced significant challenges and a notable downturn. According to recent reports, total auction sales at major houses such as Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips saw a sharp decline in 2024, continuing the downward trend from 2023.In response, the art market has been exploring new strategies to counteract these losses. One promising...

Auction houses are where wealthy collectors and art dealers gather and compete for the best of the art world. These actors tend to change the atmosphere of this world with their performance; Auctioneers are also interested in seeing the boom of the market with successful sales. Although, watching these events, the most important of which are the evening auctions, creates a certain e...

The 22nd edition of Tehran Auction, focusing on modern, classic, and traditional Iranian art, was held on the evening of February 15, 2025, at the Parsian Azadi Hotel in Tehran. The auction was conducted by Shahriar Rabbani, an Iranian presenter and actor. In this edition, 85% of the presented artworks (84 out of 99) were sold, generating a total of $2.6 million. A work by Reza Abba...

The Islamic art market emerged in the early 20th century and expanded through independent dealers in Paris, London, and New York. Many of these dealers, who were also collectors, imported valuable artworks directly from Iran, Egypt, and other regions. The secondary market for Islamic art matured by the 1920s, coinciding with the enforcement of restrictions on the export of historica...

B Gallery officially opened on December 13, 2024, in Tehran with the exhibition "Landscape: Plateau," led by Saleh Beheshti. The exhibition features over 70 works by renowned artists such as Kamal-ol-Molk, Ali Akbar Sanati, Sohrab Sepehri, Abolghasem Saeedi, Marcos Grigorian, Mohsen Vaziri Moghaddam, Parvaneh Etemadi, Farideh Lashai, Pariyoush Ganji, as well as pieces by younger gen...

VIP Days at Art Fairs Have Their Own Rituals and Traditions: VIP guests are invited not only to view artworks but also to attend more exclusive parties and savor a variety of unique culinary experiences. These occasions offer them the chance to examine artworks in a more private setting, socialize with other attendees, and perhaps gain early access to insider information. Additional...

If Marcos Grigorian were alive, he would have celebrated his 100th birthday this December. An artist who was not only a painter but also a gallery owner, collector, film actor, and notably, the founder of the first Tehran Biennale. Marcos Grigorian's influence on Iranian art is such that, 18 years after his passing, an exhibition titled "Marcos Grigorian: A Retrospective" has been o...

In this conversation, Mohammad Reza Moridi, an art researcher and faculty member at Tehran University of Art, discusses the challenges and research related to the Iranian art market with journalist Hossein Ganji. Moridi explores the historical taboos surrounding the art market and the evolving discourse in this field, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary research in the...

This article presents an overview of the ten highest-priced Iranian artworks sold at auction in 2024. The featured works are by six renowned artists: Ali Banisadr, Sohrab Sepehri, Bahman Mohasses, Mehdi Qadyanloo, Hossein Zenderoudi, and Aydin Aghdashloo. All of these artworks are paintings and were sold exclusively through three prestigious auction houses—Christie's, Sotheby's, and...

Art collecting, when examined through the lens of psychology, can be likened to walking a fine line. On one hand, it is viewed as a positive activity dedicated to the preservation and safeguarding of historical, cultural, and artistic artifacts. On the other hand, it is sometimes perceived as a purely economic endeavor aimed at profit-making, or even, in some cases, as an addictive...

The price of an artwork is influenced by a complex interplay of factors that include supply and demand, the artist's career stage, medium, provenance, market trends, and emotional value. The primary art market, where artworks are sold for the first time, relies heavily on galleries to set prices based on reputation, education, and quality. Meanwhile, the secondary market, involving...

The October and November 2024 modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art auctions demonstrated significant achievements by artists from across the region. Held in Paris and London by Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Bonhams, and Millon, the six auctions featured 438 works by 235 artists, generating total sales of $13.14 million. Egyptian and Iranian artists led the market in terms of volume a...

At a talk accompanying her painting exhibition for the opening of Pace Gallery’s new branch in Japan, Maisha Mohammadi discussed her transition from neuroscience to art, her creative process, and how she embedded a wish for her husband into one of her works.

Art auctions in the first half of 2024 did not perform well, with one report describing this spring as the worst auction season in a century. Now, Christie’s and Sotheby’s are turning their focus to single-owner collections, hoping for better results in the November auctions in New York.

"The financial burden of participating in prominent art fairs such as Art Basel or Frieze poses a significant challenge for small galleries and emerging artists, particularly in recent months as the art market has been grappling with a crisis. In this discussion, Magnus Resch raises critical questions: How many more galleries can continue to operate under such difficult market condi...