The collection of works by Monir Farmanfarmaeian

The collection of works by Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaeian

Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaeian (1922-2019) was a painter and folk art collector living in Tehran. He studied fashion illustration at Parsons School of Design for three years (1946-1949) and at Cornell University (1948-1951). In the mid-1950s, he designed clothes for magazines such as Town, Country, and Glamor as a fashion illustrator, and worked as a commercial graphic designer and fashion designer for department stores.

Features of the works of Ms. Farmanfarmaeian

He is the only artist in the last 40 years who has used the combination of mirror work, geometric shapes, motifs and painting behind glass to create his modern works. His distinctive style, developed in the late 1940s and 1950s, emerged from strong and deep ties to his country and an apprenticeship in New York. His special style includes the combination of painting behind glass, mirror work, inlay work, Islamic geometry and architectural design. In 2015, Farmanfarmaeian became the first Iranian artist whose works were displayed in a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum. So far, her works have been widely exhibited in Iran, America, Europe and the Middle East, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum and the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Style and method of work

The present exhibition includes 51 precious works of this artist, which were dedicated by him in a meeting attended by Dr. Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, President of Tehran University, to the collection of Negarestan Garden Museum and University of Tehran. Due to their special style, which is a kind of geometric abstraction, these works are a combination of traditional Islamic and modern designs. Also, the combination of traditional glass paintings, mirror work and principles of Islamic geometry has been able to give these works a special advantage with a modern artistic understanding. This exhibition was opened on December 15, 2017, with the presence of Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaeian, officials, a group of artists and art lovers and was exposed to the public.