Under the Watchful Eyes of the Supreme Leader: Iranian Politics and the Art Market

Abstract This article studies the relationship between politics and the art market. It adopts the Iranian model and analyzes how the political advancement of the Islamic Republic influenced aesthetics, art production, and the art market, to highlight how a conservatively religious model—governed by theocracy—impacts an otherwise prosperous and affluent culture. As such, this study also explores the correlation between art and moral virtues within a society. According to data, exportation of Iranian art was enjoying a far more lucrative climate the world over prior to the 1979 revolution. After the Islamic Revolution, artists, collectors, art galleries, and museums were forced to carve a confined space of existence and self-expression as a consequence of the endless limitations imposed. The political realm directly affected artists’ aesthetics, materiality, subject matter, and exposure. Artists were somewhat isolated from the global art scene, and their practice was defined by predetermined moral restrictions and boundaries. As for the art market, it became a hidden and unregulated market where the sale of artworks was muddled with money laundering and illegal exchange.