NOW AND TEN

PROPERTY FROM
THE ESTEEMED COLLECTION OF
AKBAR AND SOUSAN SEIF NASSERI
‘Every single object, painting or sculpture that we acquired throughout the years provided
us with a sense of excitement; we fell in love with each one of them and they in return
became part of our family.’
(Mr. Akbar Seif Nasseri, in an interview with Bibi Naz Zavieh, January 2016).
Christie’s is delighted to present four outstanding
masterpieces from the Esteemed Private Collection of
Akbar and Sousan Seif Nasseri, a couple whose admiration
for contemporary art is truly inspirational.
Born in Iran, Akbar Seif Nasseri spent his childhood in
Prague where he completed his secondary education
and befriended several painters, flm makers and writers
including Milan Kundera. In 1956, Akbar Seif Nasseri
moved to Switzerland to pursue his studies in Political
Science at the University of Lausanne, where he would,
notably, interact with contemporary artists Jean Tinguely
and Niki de Saint Phalle, before moving back permanently
to his native Iran in 1966.
A student and close friend of Marcos Grigorian and Parviz
Tanavoli, albeit with a Doctorate in Micro-biology, Sousan
Seif Nasseri introduced her husband to many artists in
Tehran and the couple often attended art openings, visited
artists’ studios and spent time discussing ideas with the
young artists’ of their generation, many of whom stand
today at the forefront of Modern Iranian Art.
Acquiring works purely for the love and sake of art,
Akbar and Sousan Seif Nasseri believe that alike their
own children, their paintings should pave their own path
and thus deserve to be held in other private collections
and public institutions, where their aesthetic quality and
historical importance could be appreciated by many more.
Dear friends of Jafar Rouhbakhsh, the couple acquired
several works of the artist, most of which are amongst
his masterpieces. Akbar Seif Nasseri spent hours in
Rouhbakhsh’s studio and often expressed ideas that
the artist skillfully and subtly projected onto the surface
of his canvases. The present work, a rare example of
Rouhbakhsh’s early works, was frst gifted by the artist to
Mr. Khadem and it is only in 2010, that Akbar Seif Nasseri
rediscovered and acquired this painting.
A quintessential example from his Saqqakhaneh years,
the majestic painting by Faramarz Pilaram caught the
eye of the couple at Galerie Seyhoun in Tehran, where
they acquired the masterpiece. Massoumeh, the founder
of her eponymous gallery, was instrumental in shaping
Tehran’s art scene since the 1960s and she famously
supported many young artists of the time, most of whom
are considered today as the pioneers of
Modern Iranian Art; Pilaram was one of them and as his
work hung on the gallery’s walls, it soon became one of
the stellar pieces from the private collection of Akbar and
Sousan Seif Nasseri.
Executed by the Father of Modern Iranian Sculpture,
Parviz Tanavoli, Poet and Cage is one of the masterpieces
of Akbar and Sousan Seif Nasseri’s collection. Once in
the collection of the architect and decorator Edouard
Khachaturian who himself was a close friend of the artist,
this captivating ceramic was acquired by the couple in the
early 1990s. The present work has been widely illustrated
in publications on Modern Iranian Art and is undeniably
one of the most outstanding and rarest sculptures to ever
appear at an auction.
In 1989, when Koorosh Shishegaran held his frst
exhibition at the now closed Classic Gallery in Tehran,
many discovered for the frst time the works of this young
talent. The exhibition marked the beginning of his most
celebrated series of bold undulating lines and it is then
that the couple met him for the frst time, discovered his
work and immediately fell in love with his innovative style.
Having lived with these works of art for many years, Akbar
and Sousan Seif Nasseri have entrusted Christie’s with
the sale of four enchanting works. Each one of them is a
testimony to the thriving art scene of Tehran that from the
1960s until today has fourished.
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