Contemporary art in Iran is usually viewed against a backdrop of a continuous socio-political movement which has frequently swung between demands of a modern society and maintaining traditional identity. First, a period of modernisation, from the 1940s to the 70s, was evidently aimed to sustain and absorb western socio-cultural achievements which appeared in the form of varied attitudes and their social demands. This period saw an increasing establishment of art institutions — art academies, museums and galleries parallel to the trend towards modernism in the visual arts. We pan across a broad spectrum of work that reflects a transition from the traditional to the modern.