Rockefeller soon sold on the Van Gogh to the New York dealer Eugene Thaw, who in turn sold it in 1975 for $65,000 to the Shah of Iran’s wife, Farah Pahlavi. She was supporting the planned Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, which opened in October 1977. Just over a year later, in\u00a0February 1979, the Shah was overthrown, to be succeeded by Ayatollah Khomeini and the present Islamic Republic.\u00a0Most of the collection<\/a>, including the Van Gogh, has since\u00a0lain unseen\u00a0for much of the time in the\u00a0museum\u2019s stores. There have been strong anti-Western feelings in Iran and the regime considered some of the artworks indecent.<\/p>\n In May 1890, seven years after he made the print, Van Gogh was inspired to create a larger, coloured version as a painting<\/a>. It was among the last pictures which he completed at the asylum on the outskirts of\u00a0Saint-R\u00e9my-de-Provence.<\/p>\n Van Gogh\u2019s painting At Eternity\u2019s Gate (May 1890) <\/p>\n Kr\u00f6ller-M\u00fcller Museum, Otterlo<\/p>\n The sitter\u2019s clenched fists suggest the anguish that Van Gogh himself must have been feeling, hemmed in by the asylum\u2019s walls. Two weeks before starting work on the picture Dr Th\u00e9ophile Peyron, who ran the institution, had written to the artist\u2019s brother Theo, saying that Vincent remained depressed: \u201cHe usually sits with his head in his hands, and if someone speaks to him, it is as though it hurts him, and he gestures for them to leave him alone.\u201d<\/p>\n At Eternity\u2019s Gate\u00a0represents a self-portrait, not in terms of physiognomy, but posture. Just under three months later the artist was dead, after shooting himself in a moment of despair.<\/p>\n Hopefully the Van Gogh print is still safe in a secure storeroom of the museum, which was immediately closed after the American and Israeli attack on 28 February. <\/p>\n Following the April military ceasefire, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art reopened<\/a>\u00a0in early May with a limited display, a weekly series entitled Art & War. The number of works on show has been limited to around half a dozen, in order to facilitate their rapid removal in case a resumption of hostilities threatens the museum.<\/p>\n Although the Tehran museum has survived unscathed, there has been extensive damage to museums, archaeological remains<\/a> and historical sites<\/a> across Iran.<\/p>\n Martin Bailey is a leading Van Gogh specialist and special correspondent for The Art Newspaper. He has curated exhibitions at the Barbican Art Gallery, Compton Verney\/National Gallery of Scotland and Tate Britain.<\/p>\n Martin Bailey\u2019s recent Van Gogh books<\/p>\n Martin has written a number of bestselling books on Van Gogh\u2019s years in France: The Sunflowers Are Mine: The Story of Van Gogh’s Masterpiece (Frances Lincoln 2013, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>), Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence (Frances Lincoln 2016, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>), Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum (White Lion Publishing 2018, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>) and Van Gogh\u2019s Finale: Auvers and the Artist\u2019s Rise to Fame (Frances Lincoln 2021, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>). The Sunflowers are Mine (2024, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>) and Van Gogh\u2019s Finale (2024, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>) are also now available in a more compact paperback format.<\/p>\n His other recent books include Living with Vincent van Gogh: The Homes & Landscapes that shaped the Artist (White Lion Publishing 2019, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>), which provides an overview of the artist\u2019s life. The Illustrated Provence Letters of Van Gogh has been reissued (Batsford 2021, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>). My Friend Van Gogh\/Emile Bernard provides the first English translation of Bernard\u2019s writings on Van Gogh (David Zwirner Books 2023, UK<\/a>and US<\/a>).<\/p>\n To contact Martin Bailey, please email vangogh@theartnewspaper.com<\/a><\/p>\n Please note that he does not undertake authentications.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/28901cf5d696ce47de52e7101e6a23d113572afc-1920x2441.heif.jpeg\"\/)
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