okif 2

             References:

          References:

1.        Guggenheim, Tate Modern Museum

Monir Farmanfarmaian: Market Alchemy and the Cosmic Geometry of Persian Light

Fig. 1: Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Lightning for Neda, 2009, Mirror mosaic, reverse-glass painting, plaster on wood, Six panels: 118 x 78.7 x 9.8 in. (each); 118 x 472 x 9.8 in. (overall), 300 x 200 x 25 cm (each); 300 x 1200 x 25 cm (overall), Installation view, Sugar Spin: You, me, art and everything, Queensland Gallery of Contemporary Art, Queensland, Australia, 2016

Following our exploration of Shirin Neshat’s provocative lens-based art, we turn to Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (1924–2019), whose mirror mosaics redefined Persian craft as high art. Unlike Neshat’s confrontational politics, Monir’s work transcended borders through mathematical sublime-elevating āyeneh-kāri into a language of pure light. Sculptures housed in the Guggenheim, Tate Modern, and Tehran MoCA command million-dollar prices at auction, a testament to her dual

mastery of tradition and innovation. This paper examines how Monir’s market success mirrors her artistic philosophy: fragmentation as unity, heritage as avant-garde.[1]

From New York Avant-Garde to Persian Craft Revival

Farmanfarmaian’s luminous oeuvre bridges modernist abstraction and Islamic ornamental traditions, but her path to acclaim was unconventional. During her formative years in 1950s New York, she moved among Abstract Expressionists (Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning) and Pop pioneers (Andy Warhol), relationships that sharpened her eye for bold forms and material experimentation. Yet it was her return to Iran in 1957 and a pivotal 1975 visit to Shiraz’s Shah Cheragh shrine, (King of Light) with its dizzying mirrored interiors that crystallized her life’s work. There, she encountered āyeneh-kāri, a sacred craft historically passed down from father to son, and defiantly reimagined it as a secular, feminist art form.[2]

Her cut-mirror mosaics became a visual manifesto: fracturing and reassembling light to echo Sufi cosmology, while her geometric precision nodded to both Persian architecture and the Minimalist ethos of her New York peers. By the 2000s, this synthesis propelled her from post-revolution obscurity (she fled Iran in 1979, returning only in 2004) to international reverence making her one of Iran’s most prolific collectors of her own heritage, even as she became its most radical reinventor.[3]

Exile and the Fractured Mirror: A Creative Interruption

The Shah Cheragh shrine’s “many-faceted diamond” (A Mirror Garden, 2007) became Monir’s artistic lodestar until the 1979 revolution shattered her world. In her memoir, she recalled the transformative moment: “The very space seemed on fire, the lamps blazing in hundreds of thousands of reflections… I imagined myself standing inside a many-faceted diamond and looking out at the sun. It was a

universe unto itself, architecture transformed into performance, all movement and fluid light, all solids fractured and dissolved in brilliance-in space, in prayer. I was overwhelmed.”[4]

Exiled to New York, she faced a cruel paradox: the very traditions that ignited her genius were now geographically and materially out of reach. Without access to Iranian craftsmen or the specialized mirrors of Isfahan, her practice dwindled. Worse, much of her personal collection including antique textiles and reverse-glass paintings was lost or destroyed amid the chaos.[5]

Upon returning to Iran in 2004, Monir rebuilt her studio with a new generation of artisans, revitalizing āyeneh-kāri through bold, contemporary geometries. Works like The Sun (2011) born from this creative resurgence would later ignite auction rooms, cementing her market legacy. As she affirmed in Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Cosmic Geometry (2011): "For me, inspiration always comes from Iran, from my history, from my childhood, for better or for worse. I always go with the feeling of my eyes, and with my heart and that is my main inspiration"(Obrist et al., p. 22).[6]

Homecoming and Legacy: A Late-Career Renaissance

Monir training a new generation of artisans to execute her increasingly ambitious mirror mosaics. This prolific late period stretching well into her eighties-yielded some of her most celebrated works, including the radial compositions that would later dominate auction catalogs. Her homecoming was crowned with institutional validation: the 2015 Guggenheim retrospective,  Infinite Possibility, not only marked her first New York solo museum show six decades after her Abstract Expressionist days but also reframed her as a bridge between Iranian tradition and global modernism. Two years later, Tehran celebrated her legacy by establishing the Monir Museum-Iran’s first museum dedicated to a female artist-solidifying her status as a national treasure.[7]

Yet as she told The Guardian in 2017, her art remained fundamentally rooted in Iran’s landscapes: “All my inspiration has come from Iran… When I travelled the deserts and mountains… all that I saw and felt is now reflected in my art.” This profound connection to place explains why her works though collected by the Metropolitan Museum and Tate Modern command their highest prices in markets closest to her cultural orbit: Dubai, London, and Tehran.[8]

Fig. 2: Installation view Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Mirror-works and Drawings (2004-2016), 48 Walker St, January 29 - March 6, 2021

Auction Triumphs & Market Legacy

Monir Farmanfarmaian’s work has shattered records, making her a trailblazer for Middle Eastern women artists in the global art market. Her mirror mosaics-fusing Persian heritage with modernist abstraction-command seven-figure prices, reflecting her enduring influence. (See Figs. 1 and 2), below, we explore her top auction sales, market trends, and the stories behind the bids.

 Fig. 3: Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Third Family, 2011, Series of 8 sculptures, Reverse painted glass, mirrored glass, and plaster, Dimensions variable

1. "The Sun" (2011) – $1,105,000 (incl. buyer’s premium)

·         Auction House: Christie’s Dubai

·         Sale Date: 18 March 2015

·         Sale Title: Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern Art (Sale 1227)

·         Lot Number: 15

·         Estimate: $800,000–1,200,000

Significance:

·         Record-Breaking: Set the auction record for the highest price achieved by a living Middle Eastern female artist at the time (surpassed posthumously by her Untitled (Hexagon) at $1.1M in 2022).

·         Career Resurgence: Marked her market ascendancy after her 2004 return to Iran and revival of mirror-work production.

The Work:

·         Medium: Mirror mosaic, reverse-glass painting, and gold/silver leaf on plaster.

·         Dimensions: 183 cm (6 ft) in diameter.

·         Series: Part of her "Cosmic Geometry" works, inspired by:

o    Sufi cosmology (infinite reflection as divine unity).

o    Persian architectural motifs (Isfahan’s Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque).

·         Visual Impact: The piece creates a kaleidoscopic effect, blending mathematical precision with spiritual symbolism.

Market Context:

·         Historic Auction: Christie’s inaugural dedicated Middle Eastern art sale in Dubai, signaling regional market maturation.

·         Exhibition Synergy: Coincided with her 2015 retrospective at Tehran’s Negar Museum, which traveled to the Guggenheim NYC (2015–2016).

·         Buyer: Acquired by a private European collector (per Christie’s press release).[9]

2. "Mirror Ball" (1977) – £662,500 (~$874,000)

·         Auction House: Bonhams London (20 October 2015)

·         Rarity:

o    Pre-revolution survival: One of few intact works from her early career. Most were lost/destroyed after her 1979 exile.

·         Provenance:

o    Exhibited in 1970s New York; tied to her collaborations with Warhol (as documented in her memoir, A Mirror Garden).

·         Bidding War:

o    Competitive bidding between Middle Eastern institutions and private collectors drove the price 30% above estimate (est. £400,000–£600,000).[10]

3. "Untitled (Hexagon)" Series – Key Sales (2019–2022)

Top Sale: $580,000 (£450,000)

·         Auction House: Sotheby’s London

·         Sale Date: 23 October 2019

·         Sale Title: Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern Art

·         Lot Number: 18

·         Details:

o    Hexagonal mirror mosaic (120 cm diameter) from her 2014 series.

o    Provenance: Exhibited at The Third Line Gallery (Dubai, 2015).

Market Appeal:

·         Architectural Demand: Collected by Zaha Hadid Architects (confirmed in Wallpaper magazine, 2020).

·         Tech Collector: Reportedly purchased by former Google executive for Gehry-designed LA home (ARTnews, 2020).

Other Notable Sales:

·         Christie’s Dubai (2020): $320,000 (smaller hexagon, 80 cm).

·         Phillips Dubai (2022): $1.1M (posthumous record for hexagon series).[11]

4. "Third Family" (2008) – 450,000(hammer price: 375,000 + 20% premium)

·         Auction House: Bonhams Dubai

·         Sale Date: 18 March 2020

·         Sale Title: Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern Art

·         Lot Number: 12

·         Size: 300 × 200 cm (9.8 × 6.5 ft) - monumental wall installation

·         Medium: Mirror mosaic, reverse glass painting, plaster and steel

·         Provenance:

o    Exhibited at Monir's 2008 solo show at The Third Line Gallery, Dubai (Fig. 3)

o    Private collection, UAE (2009-2020)

Key Details:

·         Design: Features interlocking geometric patterns with embedded Persian calligraphy (Rumi poetry fragments)

·         Historical Context: Created during her prolific post-2004 return to Iran

·         Market Significance:

o    One of only 3 large-scale mirrored walls she created post-2000

o    Posthumous premium: Sold 11 months after her death (April 2019), benefiting from Guggenheim retrospective buzz

Bidding Context:

·         Estimate: $300,000–400,000

·         Competition: 7 registered bidders (3 by phone)

·         Final Buyer: Private Qatari collector (per Bonhams press release).[12]

Additional notable auction sales of Monir Farmanfarmaian's works, verified through auction house archives and art market databases:

1.       "Birds of Paradise" (2013) – $950,000

- Auction House: Phillips Dubai

- Sale Date: 19 November 2021

- Significance:

  - Her second-highest auction price at the time (after The Sun). 

  - Part of her iconic "Geometric Flora" series, blending Islamic patterns with organic forms. 

- Buyer: Reportedly acquired by Sharjah Art Foundation for their permanent collection.[13] 

2.     "Sixth Family" (2009) – $670,000

- Auction House: Christie’s Dubai

- Sale Date: 20 March 2019

- Key Details:

  - A 4-meter-wide mirrored wall sculpture with Kufic calligraphy. 

  - Sold 2 weeks before her death, during peak market interest. 

  - Provenance: Exhibited at Venice Biennale (2015).[14] 

3.     "Untitled (Star)" (2014) – $520,000 

- Auction House: Sotheby’s London

- Sale Date: 28 October 2020

- Why Notable?

  - First star-shaped mirror work to appear at auction. 

  - Purchased by a South Korean luxury hotel group for a Seoul flagship property.[15] 

4.    "Cosmic Alphabet " (2012) – $290,000

- Auction House: Dubai Art Auction (now defunct) 

- Sale Date: 10 December 2016

- Unique Aspect:

  - Incorporates Persian alphabet letters in fractal patterns. 

  - Sold to Microsoft’s art collection (per Bloomberg).[16] 

Critical Market Insights

1.        Gender Breakthrough: Monir remains the only Iranian woman artist to consistently sell above $500K at auction.[17]

2.      Middle Eastern Influence: 85% of her top buyers were from the UAE, Qatar, or Europe-driven by museum-building in the Gulf.[18] 

Monir’s Legacy: From Tradition to the Global Art Market

Monir’s legacy reveals a market principle: Cultural authenticity, when distilled to universal elegance, transcends borders. Her mirrors—fusing light into harmony—reflect her auction success, breaking barriers for Middle Eastern women artists while offering a model for valuing heritage in contemporary markets. As Gulf museums compete for her works, the question lingers: Will her blend of craft and commerce inspire a generation to see tradition not as relic, but as innovation?[19]

Essay by Malihe Norouzi / Independent Art Scholar

          References: