Pahlavi politely refuses to speculate why Iran’s post-Revolution leaders neither sold off nor destroyed the collection she created. I wonder, though, how she feels while leafing through Iran Modern, which reproduces so many artworks that she is unlikely to see again in person: sad? “No,” she replies, speaking softly and slowly, “I am not sad. After the Revolution, I was very worried for these paintings. But, fortunately, except for one exchange, they are all still there. I remember, a few years ago [in 2005], one of the directors [of the museum] put some of the paintings [on display] in an exhibition – and I received an email from a young lady, an Iranian painter, who said, ‘When I found myself in front of a Rothko, I had tears in my eyes.’” TMoCA owns two Rothkos, each valued today at between $100 million and $200 million.
