Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art

Thought I made a mistake, didn't you?

Or that this was gonna be a joke post?

Wrong on both counts.

I was astounded, reading last Friday's New York Times, to come across a one–paragraph item in Steven McElroy's "Arts, Briefly" feature on this institution.

He wrote, "The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art has put on display an exhibition that art experts call the most important collection of modern Western art outside Europe and the United States, Reuters reported."

The exhibition, entitled "Modern Art Movement," spans the 1870s to the 1980s and includes work by Picasso, Monet, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock.

Who knew there was a Pollock in Iran?

Said the museum's director, Dr. Alireza Samiazar, "It's a sensational show for all of us and considering the political situation it could be quite a controversial show as well."

The museum's collection consists of works largely amassed in the 1970s by Farah Pahlavi, the widow of the Shah of Iran.

Look here at the 151 works in the collection, some of which are pictured above, and you will see why the experts are dazzled.