Iranian artist Monir Farmanfarmaian has passed away at the age of 97, according to ISNA news agency.
A versatile artist Monir participated in the Iran Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1958, 1964, and 1966. She also had solo exhibitions in New York and Paris during her distinguished career.
Born in Iran in the northern province of Qazvin in 1924, Monir wanted to study art in Paris but this was not possible because of World War II. Monir was able to get to the United States and study at Cornell University and at the prominent Parsons School for Design where she received a certificate in fashion illustration. After 12 years in New York she returned to Iran where she actively participated in local art scene.
Monir was known for her micro-mosaic and glass sculptures, but she also worked alongside with Andy Warhol as an illustrator at the Bonwit Teller luxury department store in the 1950s. During Warhol’s visit to Tehran in 1976 Monir presented him with her Mirror Ballworks.
She did not return to Iran after the 1979 revolution, as many of her works and her home were confiscated including an extensive collection of folk art that she acquired during her vast travel around Iran.
She returned to Iran in 2004 and in 2017 The Monir Museum opened in Tehran which features over fifty pieces of her work. This was a first museum in Iran that was dedicated to the work of a female artist.
