Photo: Trevor Lloyd
Farah Pahlavi, also known as the Empress of Iran until the Iranian Revolution in 1979, was a symbol of wealth, style and intellect. A bridge between two worlds, the Empress fostered Iran’s acquisition of Persian cultural artefacts as well as an extensive Impressionist and modern art collection, a penchant towards European culture that was met with criticism by fundamentalist Iranians. At the peak of the revolution, a commissioned portrait of Pahlavi painted by her close friend Andy Warhol was viciously stabbed with a knife, a manifestation of anger against the monarchy. Today, the art collection that the former Empress accumulated still exists behind vaults, remnants of a different Iran.
