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Other artists have faced prosecution for alleged support of opposition movements. This month Iranian director Jafar Panahi appeared via Skype at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic after the screening of his film, "Closed Curtain," which he made in defiance of censors while under house arrest. Authorities imposed a 20-year filmmaking ban on Panahi in 2010 after his conviction on charges of "making propaganda" against Iran's ruling system. The works on the auction block at Tehran's high-end Azadi Hotel -- the former Hyatt near the infamous Evin Prison -- played it safe, however. The collection, such as the 1970 painting "The Body of Trees," avoided any political overtones. That piece, by the late painter and poet Sohrab Sepeheri, brought the highest price of the auction, about $220,000. The buyer, the private Pasargad Bank, already has bought more than 140 artworks in recent years as part of plans for a museum. A photo entitled "Weeping Cow," by the internationally renowned film director Abbas Kiarostami, fetched $22,000 when the gavel came down. It was wielded by celebrity auctioneer Reza Kianian, a veteran film and television actor who has won the Iranian equivalent of an Academy Award. "I did not expect that all works could be sold," Kianian said. "The excitement was very high, and that pushed me to raise the offers." A photo by Jamshid Bayrami on the hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, was sold for about $6,000. Bayrami's works have been sold previously at Sotheby's auctions in London and Qatar. "Many know that investment cannot be limited to real estate, gold and carpets," the photographer said. "It also shows the strength of Iranian art lovers and artists." The manager of the auction, Ali Reza Samei Azar, said he had hoped to top last year's auction that brought in $1.3 million, but the sinking economy initially made him think they "were dreaming." "We rarely see the sale of 100 percent of artworks in international auctions," Samei Azar gushed after the 3 1/2-hour event on June 28. "Iranian society has shown that art can be an investment." He described many of the buyers as "young and Western educated." "It was exciting," Samei Azar said. "One-third of buyers were new buyers. It shows the growth potential for Iran's art market."
[Associated
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