TEHRAN -- Two works by the late Iranian artist Sadegh Tabrizi sold for a combined 21.45 billion tomans (approximately $80,900) at the 26th Tehran Auction, renewing attention to the artist’s role in modern Iranian art and the international market for works rooted in Persian visual traditions.
One work fetched 14.3 billion tomans (about $54,000), while a calligraphy-painting sold for 7.15 billion tomans (approximately $27,000), according to the reported results of the auction, held on October 16, 2026.
Tabrizi, who died in 2017, was associated with the Saqqakhaneh movement, a formative current in modern Iranian art that reinterpreted traditional visual elements, religious symbols, calligraphy and decorative motifs through modern artistic approaches.
Rather than simply reproducing historical forms, artists associated with this movement sought to transform Iran’s cultural heritage into a contemporary visual language. Tabrizi’s work explored the relationship between writing, ornament and image, allowing traditional signs to function as elements of modern composition.
His calligraphy-based works are particularly relevant to discussions of how Persian and Islamic artistic traditions have been adapted within modern art. In works incorporating sacred text, the relationship between writing and visual structure raises questions about how inherited forms acquire new meanings within contemporary artistic practice.
Tabrizi’s presence in Tehran also coincides with the appearance of one of his paintings at Millon, the Paris auction house, illustrating the different contexts in which Iranian modern art is presented to collectors.
The Paris work, titled Untitled, was executed in 1980 in oil on canvas and measures approximately 45 by 35.5 centimeters. It was included in a sale devoted to 20th-century Middle Eastern art and the pioneers of modernism in the region.
The reported price of approximately €42,042, including buyer-related charges, provides another point of reference for Tabrizi’s international auction presence. However, comparing the Paris figure directly with the Tehran results requires caution: auction estimates, hammer prices, buyer’s premiums, provenance and the specific characteristics of individual works can all affect reported values.
The 26th Tehran Auction featured 100 works by 93 artists and generated total sales of 1.19691 trillion tomans, according to the reported results. A sculpture from Parviz Tanavoli’s Heech series led the sale at 308 billion tomans.
Other artists represented included Monir Farmanfarmaian, Kourosh Shishegaran, Muhammad Ehsai and Hussein Zendehroudi, figures whose practices have helped shape modern and contemporary Iranian art.