TEHRAN, Iran — Walk into Tehran’s famed Golestan Gallery on a typical day, and you will find Lili Golestan busy at her desk speaking on the phone, arranging a series of new works or telling stories. She has spent a lifetime with Iran’s most renowned poets, artists and intellectuals, and she is a woman with endless stories.

The Golestan Gallery is larger than life. It is one of Tehran’s most prestigious galleries, and its owner is one of the city’s most well-known cultural figures. The gallery occupies a street-level space with glass doors in northern Tehran’s scenic Darrous district, once known as the “Bride of Shemiran” for its once-bountiful fruit orchards and cool summer days.

Golestan hails from Tehran's prominent Golestan family, whose surname means, fortuitously, “garden of flowers.” She is the daughter of acclaimed but self-exiled Iranian filmmaker and writer Ebrahim Golestan and the sister of the late photojournalist Kaveh. In addition to running the gallery, she is also a director and translator.

For 23 years now, at this time of year, Golestan has hosted an exhibit titled “100 Works by 100 Artists,” bringing together artists of all genres, price ranges, ages and media. The titular numbers are approximate; this year, 178 works by 161 artists were exhibited, with prices ranging from 1.5 million Iranian rials ($50) to 2.5 billion rials ($83,450). The most expensive painting was done by the late acclaimed naturalist poet Sohrab Sepehri. The fiery socialist poet Siavash Kasraie also has two paintings in the collection.