Preventing the waste of oil income and investment in art made the idea of establishing the Museum of Contemporary Arts discussed and implemented in Iran before the Revolution in 1979…

Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts “MoCA” is in the south of the Carpet Museum of Iran. This museum was established in 1977 with the cooperation of Kamran Diba, prominent Iranian architect, and designer and Farah Pahlavi, the queen at that time. The general design of this museum was made based on Iranian wind catchers.

Great treasures of contemporary art including pieces of abstract arts, pop art, conceptual, photorealism, and minimalism were bought and kept in this museum. The works of great artists like Gauguin, Renoir, Magritte, Ernst, Picasso, Warhol, Pollock, Luis, and Giacometti are kept in this museum. The value of pieces of artwork in this museum is estimated between 5 to 10 billion dollars.

The architecture of this museum was inspired by the architectural style of central Iran which with deserts and very hot weather. In this kind of architecture employing wind catchers, rural arches and desert windows are emphasized. A spiral pathway is designed inside the building that leads the visitors to downstairs. This spiral includes seven galleries that have rather similar designs. Below the spiral is a modern work by the Japanese artist Noriyuki Haraguch named “Matter and Mind” which was made in Iran. the permanent collection of the Museum includes works by Monet, Warhol, Magritte, Picasso, and Van Gogh, which are exhibited from time to time with prior announcement.