On the evening of May 29, the luxurious Hotel Parsian, which belongs to Iran's private Parsian Bank, hosted the Fourth Annual Tehran Artwork Auction. In this auction, 126 works by 109 artists were presented to a group of about 600 people, who bought 84 paintings, 23 calligraphies, 13 statues and six photographs in all. The official website of the Tehran Artwork Auction reports that $6,375,000 worth of artwork was presented.

The reported value of the Tehran Artwork Auction was $4 million in 2014, $1.98 million in 2013 and $650,000 in 2012, showing a tenfold increase in the past three years.

The auction featured works from deceased contemporary artists such as Kamal al-Molk (Iran’s most famous modern painter), Sohrab Sepehri (poet and painter) and Bahman Mohassess (painter), as well as living artists such as Parviz Tanavoli (sculptor), Abbas Kiarostami (director and photographer) and Parviz Kalantari. The most expensive piece was an untitled painting by Sepehri, sold for $848,000. Another Sepehri painting, “Trunk of the Trees,” sold for $515,000, the second-highest price in the auction.

The dramatic increase in the valuation of this year’s auction over the previous year was welcomed by a large number of famous Iranian artists who believe that when art is sold for high prices, it encourages artists and motivates them to produce better work. “For years, we were missing such a thing in Iran,” wrote Tanavoli in a May 31 column for Shargh newspaper, “In addition to evaluating and pricing the artworks, these auctions also help strengthen the art economy.”