TEHRAN -- The third most expensive artwork sold at the 5th Tehran Auction last Friday was purchased by Bank Pasargad, a major Iranian private banking establishment.

The artwork, which was a painting of a planter by New York-based Iranian expressionist Manuchehr Yektai, fetched 14.7 billion rials (over $420,000) at the sale that is dedicated to Iranian artworks.

The bank also took four other works from the auction to its treasure trove, Ali-Akbar Amin Tafreshi, a member of the bank’s board of directors, said in a press release on Tuesday.

The bank bought “SAD+HE+SAD”, a calligraphic painting by Hossein Zednderudi, for one billion rials (about $290,000) and also “Flying and Me”, a painting by Jalil Ziapur, for 720,000 rials (about $210,000).

An untitled painting by Nasser Assar and a sculpture made of scrap car parts by Jazeh Tabatabai are the next two.

“Unexaggeratedly, the museum of the bank with over 500 invaluable works enjoys an exemplary richness, and can be considered as a comprehensive treasury for Iranian modern art,” Amin Tafreshi said.

In addition, the director of the Damonfar Painting Biennial, which is organized by France’s Pebeo and Canson, and Germany’s Faber-Castell, three companies that manufacture art materials, bought a calligraphic paining by Mohammad Ehsai and an untitled painting by Farideh Lashai at the auction. 

Two paintings from Sohrab Sepehri’s Tree Trunk series were the most expensive works sold at the sale. 

One of the paintings fetched 30 billion rials (over $860,000) and another took in 15.5 billion rials (over $447,000).

The auction smashed last year’s record by grossing over 253 billion rials (over $7.3 million). The art sale last year grossed 214 billion rials (over $6.1 million).

Photo: Tehran Auction employees hold a painting from Manuchehr Yektai during the 5th edition of the auction at the Parsian Azadi Hotel on May 27, 2016. The artwork was the third top seller, fetching over $420,000. (Honaronline/Mojtaba Arabzadeh)

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