Art patronage in Iran in the Qajar period (1795-1925) witnessed preeminent fluctuations. Elements such as the availability of materials for painting, newly opened art schools, financial support for teaching at schools, and working for newspapers and publishers all helped artists to become more self-sufficient and solidified their positions in relationships to their patrons...

The Greek inscription and other Seleucid finds in Nahavand The chance discovery of an inscription in Nahavand in 1943 suggested the existence of a Greek temple (Figure 1). Based on the translation of the Greek inscription, the temple was built during the reign of Antiochus III (223-187 BC) (Robert 1949), in the place then referred to as Laodicea (Hakemi 1959). In 1949, five small bronze figures (Figure 2) were discovered by accident in the same area (Rahbar 1976). A little later, whilst visiting the area, Ghirshman happened to identify a Seleucid stone alter (Ghirshman 1963: 19) and in 1978, during a survey and sounding, Gh. Masumi discovered a stone column base in the same location...

The field of art is today frequently equated with the art market, and the artwork is primarily identified as a commodity. That art functions in the context of the art market, and every work of art is a commodity, is beyond doubt; yet art is also made and exhibited for those who do not want to be art collectors, and it is in fact these people who constitute the majority of the art public.

Contemporary art deserves its name insofar as it manifests its own contemporaneity—and this is not simply a matter of being recently made or displayed. Thus, the question “What is contemporary art?” implicates the question “What is the contemporary?” How could the contemporary as such be shown?

The relationship between art and money can be understood in at least two ways. First, art can be interpreted as a sum of works circulating on the art market. In this case, when we speak about art and money, we think primarily of spectacular developments in the art market that took place in recent decades...

At the turn of the twentieth century, art entered a new era of artistic mass production. Whereas the previous age was an era of artistic mass consumption, in our present time the situation has changed, and there are two primary developments that have led to this change...

Khorheh is a village located 225 km southwest of Tehran, near the Qom- Esfahan expressway and three parasangs away from Mahallãt. Two Greek-looking columns standing in this village have long drawn the attention of inquisitive minds and given rise to various views and theories.

After a rocky couple of years and several false dawns, the art market seems to be finding its feet again. With records tumbling and a new buzz in the salerooms, James Parry assesses recent auction highlights and finds a celebratory mood.