It was called one of the rarest treasures in the world, but few people outside her host country know this.

For decades, the masterpieces written by Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Idi Warhol and Jackson Bullock have been kept on the bottom of a museum in the capital of Iran, Tehran, which is being ambiguous.

According to estimates in 2018, the group deserves Up to $ 3 billion.

Only a small part of work has been shown since the 1979 Iranian revolution, but in recent years, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art has been displaying some of its most familiar pieces.

Eye to Eye was extended at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, which was opened in October 2024, twice due to the overwhelming public demand, until January 2025.

The screen was widely considered one of the most important exhibitions in the history of the museum, and it was also the most visited.

The show was distinguished by more than 15 works that were first unveiled, including a statue of Jean Dubovt – its first appearance is ever in an Iranian exhibition.

From abstract expressive to pop, the group works in the museum as a time capsule for the central artistic movements.

Among the artworks is a picture of Warhol for Farah Bahlafi – the last Queen of Iran – a rare piece that mixes pop art with Iranian cultural history.

Elsewhere, Francis Bacon’s works called two characters dumped on a bed with the attendees, characters appearing on two naked men dumped on the bed.

On the opposite wall on the basement of the museum, the image of Ayatollah Rohla Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is displayed in communication.

The museum was built in 1977 under the auspices of Pahlavi, the exile widow of the last Shah of Iran that was overthrown during the revolution.

Pahlavi was an emotional technician and her cousin, architect Kamran Deeba, designed the museum.

It was established to present modern art to the Iranians and fill Iran closer to the international artistic scene.

The museum soon became home to a stunning group of works by stars, including Picasso, Warhol and Salvador Dali, along with cutting by Iranian modernists, and soon established herself as a beacon of cultural exchange and artistic ambition.

However, the 1979 revolution came. Iran became an Islamic republic where ownership was overthrown and the clergy took over political control during the era of Ayatollah Khomeini.

Many artworks were considered inappropriate for the general presentation due to nudity, religious sensitivities, or political effects.

Gabriel was considered by Pierre Auguste Renoir with a very explicit open blouse. Warhol’s image of the former queen of Iran was very political. In fact, Bahvavi’s image was sabotaged and torn with a knife during the revolutionary turmoil.

After the revolution, many artworks were closed, and dust collected in a cellar that became the legend of the art world.

In only the 1990s, the museum regained its cultural importance during the reform of Muhammad Khatami.

Suddenly, the world remembers what was missing. Art lovers could not believe their eyes. Van Gogh, Dali, even Monet – everything in Tehran.

Some pieces were loaned to the main exhibitions in Europe and the United States, and the group has briefly re -delivered the world of the global art.

Hamid Keschirchkan, an art historian in London, studied the group and called “One of the rarest modern artistic treasures outside the West.”

The collection includes the Figure Henry Moner’s Recling – a creative piece by one of the most famous sculptors in Britain – Jackson Bullock and the Indian Red Earth, which is a vibrant example of the American -softened and emotional drawing technique.

The Painter and its Great – its largest fabric from 1927 – also distinguishes, is a strong example of his abstract work from the post -intention period.

There is Van Gogh in the gate of eternity – one of the highly rare survivors in his first campaign of the printing industry, during which he produced six stone images in November 1882.

But for art lovers in Britain, the group is far. The UK Foreign Ministry advises against all travel to Iran and says that the double -Iranian British and British are at risk of arrest, interrogation or detention.

She says that the presence of a British passport or links with the United Kingdom can be a sufficient reason for the detention by the Iranian authorities.

The challenges of the museum that works under a narrow budget remain. The transformation of political priorities means that it often works as a cultural axis more than the traditional museum.

However, it is still a wonderful institution – a guardian of the masterpieces of modern art in the heart of Tehran.