- Artist or Maker
- Abbas
Iran, 1944-2018 - Title
- At a pro Shah demonstration at the Amjadiyeh Stadium, a supporter puts a banknote with the Shah's portrait to her eye as a sign of allegiance.
- Date Made
- 1979, printed 2016
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- Image: 9 15/16 × 14 3/4 in. (25.24 × 37.47 cm)
Primary support: 12 × 16 in. (30.48 × 40.64 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2016.199.1
- Collecting Area
- Art of the Middle East: Contemporary
- Curatorial Notes
In the tumultuous penultimate days of Iran’s shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (r. 1941–79), protests and strikes paralyzed the nation. Schools and universities were closed, newspapers suspended, and public assembly prohibited. The shah would depart Iran on January 16, 1979. Throughout the turbulent political transition, anti- and pro-shah demonstrations continued, as recorded in the photograph of a woman holding to her eye currency depicting the shah, indicating her support for the absent ruler.
- Selected Bibliography
- Komaroff, Linda. In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: DelMonico Books-Prestel, 2018.
