The Museum of Fine Arts
The Museum of Fine Arts is located in the southern area of Saadabad Palace. It houses a collection of highly valuable paintings.
History
The museum building’s construction began in 1940 but was left incomplete after Reza Khan’s exile in 1941. It was later repurposed as a court ministry in 1967 until it was transformed into the Museum of Fine Arts in 1982.
The architecture of the museum building
This museum is also known as the Black Palace due to its construction using black marble. The building has a ground floor and two additional floors, each containing multiple galleries and a hall. Currently, all three floors are adorned with stunning paintings from various art styles of Iran and around the world.
The floors of the Museum of Fine Arts
The ground floor of the museum is currently showcasing 19 contemporary paintings by Iranian artists who have experimented with new techniques. The featured artists include Sohrab Sepehari, Hossein Mahjoubi, Faramarz Pilaram, Hossein Zenderoudi, and Parvaneh Etemadi. Additionally, the museum is displaying 8 stunning paintings by the renowned artist Mohammad Ghaffari, also known as Kamal-ol-Molk.
The first floor of the museum exhibits stunning European paintings created between the 17th and 20th centuries, showcasing various schools and styles. The collection includes works by well-known painters from national schools like German, British, French, and Russian. Some of the famous European painters with exhibited works at the Museum of Fine Arts include Salvador Dali, John Friedrich Herring, Peter Graham, Ivan Shishkin, Francois Musin, and Jules Breton.
The second floor of the museum features paintings by Iranian artists from the Safavid to Qajar periods, as well as works related to the Zendiyeh period. Many of the Safavid-era paintings on display depict courtiers from that time, which likely inspired painters to create portraits of them. This is why many of the paintings from that era feature the faces of kings, court women, men, princes, and officials. One notable panel on this floor shows Nader Shah crowning Mohammad Shah Gorkani, the King of India.
Visiting hours
The Museum of Fine Arts is open for visitors from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
