LACMA Receives Major Donation of 90 Works by Iranian Satirist Ardeshir Mohassess

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has acquired 90 drawings and watercolors by Iranian artist Ardeshir Mohassess through a donation from collector Dr. Ardeshir Babaknia. Created from the 1950s through the 1990s, these works document Iran's political transformations, critiquing both the Pahlavi monarchy and the subsequent Islamic Republic. Mohassess, a self-taught artist who worked as a political satirist, left Iran in 1976 due to censorship and lived in New York until his death in 2008. This donation establishes LACMA as the primary international repository for Mohassess's work and will support future exhibitions and research. The acquisition significantly expands the museum's collection of modern and contemporary Iranian art.