
The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art Is Re-Emerging - adventured
http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-tehran-museum-of-contemporary-art/
======
hodwik
I believe strongly that to conquer the hearts of nations like Iran we must
show them the depths of our humanity.

Unfortunately, I suspect these works do just the opposite, grounded more in
western Nihilism than Humanism.

I have to imagine our art would more effectively find commonality with the
Iranians if they were to see the great works of Dean Cornwell, John Gannam,
Robert Heindel, Henry Patrick Raleigh, Bouguereau, William Waterhouse, John
Everett Millais, Andrew Wyeth, and so on.

Unfortunately the western art establishment of today is more interested in
perpetual rebellion than beauty -- and so our art has become useless as a tool
of human relation.

~~~
firasd
I think you somewhat overlook the nature of transnational global culture.
People in Iran read David Foster Wallace and look at Rothko paintings, just as
(on a more broad level) people worldwide buy iPhones and watch Tarantino
films.

So when these paintings were bought by the Iranian elite they didn't want
paintings that showed the depth of Western humanity that can conquer the
hearts of their nation. They were guided by a contemporary aesthetic
understanding.

~~~
hodwik
A contemporary aesthetic that the fools in our art departments crafted in the
1960s under the guiding hand of the CIA.

I'm not saying Iran is failing for not purchasing better art (that's a
different discussion for a different time).

I'm saying our culture is failing for not calling modernism what it was -- a
ruse, a blind alley, a death of the heart and intellect. I'm saying we are
failing for allowing this charade to go on, to the point that Iran would think
this is the best we have to offer.

~~~
qzxvwt
>A contemporary aesthetic that the fools in our art departments crafted in the
1960s under the guiding hand of the CIA

Wait what?

~~~
hodwik
"For decades in art circles it was either a rumour or a joke, but now it is
confirmed as a fact. The Central Intelligence Agency used American modern art
- including the works of such artists as Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell,
Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko - as a weapon in the Cold War. In the manner
of a Renaissance prince - except that it acted secretly - the CIA fostered and
promoted American Abstract Expressionist painting around the world for more
than 20 years." \-- [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/09/modern-art-was-
cia-...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/09/modern-art-was-cia-
weapon_n_781314.html)

[http://cup.columbia.edu/book/cold-war-
modernists/97802311623...](http://cup.columbia.edu/book/cold-war-
modernists/9780231162302)

[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-
cia-w...](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-
weapon-1578808.html)

[https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/04/23/reviews/000423.23joff...](https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/04/23/reviews/000423.23joffet.html)

~~~
qzxvwt
Super interesting, thanks.

------
eternalban
Courtesy of the Empress of Iran. [https://s-media-cache-
ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fe/50/9b/fe509b1f2...](https://s-media-cache-
ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fe/50/9b/fe509b1f2859590627af3c50a854e12e.jpg)

