TEHRAN -- A masterpiece by American abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock returned to Iran from a showing in Japan that lasted about three months.

 

“Mural on Indian Red Ground” was unveiled during a ceremony at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMCA) on Tuesday.

 

Iran had loaned the artwork to the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo to display it at Jackson Pollock: A Centennial Retrospective, which was held from February 10 to May 6, 2012.

 

The painting, which represents Pollock’s unique style of dripping paints on canvass, belongs to the TMCA, an affiliate of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

 

“Mural on Indian Red Ground”, which has an estimated value of $250 million, was confiscated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) at the Imam Khomeini International Airport due to a delay in the repayment of the Culture Ministry’s debt to the IRICA.

 

The IRICA director had ordered the artwork last week to be distrained until the Culture Ministry repays its debt.

 

The Pollock’s piece of art was bought by Iran in 1976, one year before the opening of the TMCA. It was one of the over 300 works, which were accumulated for the museum.

 

The collection comprises works by world-renowned artists including Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Edvard Munch, Paul Cézanne, Edouard Monet, and Vincent van Gogh.

 

Pollock’s painting and a rarely seen collection of paintings by some of the world’s august artists were showcased at the month-long exhibit entitled “Manifestations of Contemporary World Painting” at the TMCA in 2009.

 

In October 2010, the TMCA loaned Picasso’s “The Painter and His Model” to the Kunsthaus Zurich show.

 

The TMCA also loaned Dutch artist Kees van Dongen’s “Trinidad Fernandez” to Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam in 2010.

 

MMS/YAW

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