The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts is one of the most important museums of Asian modern arts. The museum was inaugurated in 1978 in Tehran and after 30 years, this museum’s treasures are being publicly exhibited for the second time. Four years ago, in the period of Khatami’s presidency in Iran and in the last days {...}

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Artprice’s TOP 10 ranking: the art market heavyweights in 2008
Every year Artprice publishes its ranking of artists based on auction revenue. At the end of 2007 the figures were remarkable: the market’s Top 10 had generated a combined total of $1.8bn, up no less than 50% on the previous year’s total. In 2008 the total was $100m lower than {...}

Francis Bacon, Study for a Self-Portrait, 1964, Via Rawartint

A Florida art collector is suing Christie’s New York, after his Self-Portrait by Francis Bacon failed to sell at auction in November 2008. Christie’s had offered collector George Weiss a minimum guarantee, but allegedly refused to follow through after Weiss consigned the work. The auction house alludes to the collapse of {...}

Bacon’s early life as a rugmaker is almost forgotten, and his output so small that an example held by the Victoria and Albert Museum was thought to be one of only three to exist. His rug oeuvre has suddenly increased, however, after an Iranian carpet dealer cleaned out one of her storerooms and took a pile of rugs to an auction house in Wiltshire.

Ian Bennett, a {...}

The first major New York exhibition in 20 years devoted to Francis Bacon (British, 1909–1992)—one of the most important painters of the 20th century—will be presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from May 20 through August 16, 2009. Marking the 100th anniversary of the artist’s birth, Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective will bring together the most significant works from {...}

1. From Russia
Royal Academy
After the intrigue of poisoned sushi over the road, the RA’s art blockbuster was officially blocked by Russia, only to be given a last-minute reprieve. It was the outgoing exhibitions tsar Norman Rosenthal’s finest hour, with stunning French pictures from the Hermitage and Malevich’s black square, cross and circle as triumphant full-stops.

2. Francis Bacon
Tate Britain, until Jan 4 2009
A bloody and gutsy display showing the dark destroyer of British painting in all {...}