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Moses Myers House

323 E. Freemason St.
Open Saturday and Sunday

Noon–5 p.m.

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Reading Room
Wednesday-Friday
10 a.m.–5 p.m.

About the Myers House

The oldest Jewish home in America open to the public as a museum offers a glimpse of the life of an early 19th century merchant family.
More about the house

About the Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Art Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

Located in Norfolk

One Memorial Place,
Norfolk, VA
Get Directions

While You're Here

Visit our Museum Shop
and Zinnia Cafe.

Perry Glass Studio

A state-of-art facility on the Museum’s campus. See a free glassmaking demo Tuesdays–Sunday at noon. Like what you see? Take a class with us! More about the Studio

The Myers House

The home of the first permanent Jewish residents of Norfolk, this historic house offers a glimpse of the life of a wealthy early 19th-century merchant family.
More about the house

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the Library

Wedding & Event Rentals

The perfect place for your big day or special event. Get the details

In-person Tours

Group tours are available for groups of 20 or fewer. More about tours

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Visit one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

About the Chrysler

Our story spans well over 100 years. See where we began, how we grew, and where we're going. Explore our history

News and Announcements

See what's happening at the Museum, read Chrysler Magazine, and find our Media Center. Read now

Location

One Memorial Place
Norfolk, VA 23510

Location

745 Duke Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-333-6299

Always Free Parking

Get Directions

Visiting Artist Series

Bringing the world’s top glass art talent to Hampton Roads
Find out more

Studio Team

Meet the brilliant minds behind the Studio.
See the team

Give the Chrysler Experience

Share everything you love about the Chrysler Museum with a gift membership. Perfect for everyone on your list.

The Masterpiece Society

Learn about this innovative group of museum supporters.
Meet the Masterpiece Society

Planned Giving

Help ensure the long-term success of the Museum.
Learn about planned giving

Moses Myers House

323 E. Freemason St.
Open Saturday and Sunday

Noon–5 p.m.

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Reading Room
Wednesday-Friday
10 a.m.–5 p.m.

About the Myers House

The oldest Jewish home in America open to the public as a museum offers a glimpse of the life of an early 19th century merchant family.
More about the house

About the Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Art Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

Located in Norfolk

One Memorial Place,
Norfolk, VA
Get Directions

While You're Here

Visit our Museum Shop
and Zinnia Cafe.

Perry Glass Studio

A state-of-art facility on the Museum’s campus. See a free glassmaking demo Tuesdays–Sunday at noon. Like what you see? Take a class with us! More about the Studio

The Myers House

The home of the first permanent Jewish residents of Norfolk, this historic house offers a glimpse of the life of a wealthy early 19th-century merchant family.
More about the house

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the Library

Wedding & Event Rentals

The perfect place for your big day or special event. Get the details

In-person Tours

Group tours are available for groups of 20 or fewer. More about tours

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Visit one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

About the Chrysler

Our story spans well over 100 years. See where we began, how we grew, and where we're going. Explore our history

News and Announcements

See what's happening at the Museum, read Chrysler Magazine, and find our Media Center. Read now

Location

One Memorial Place
Norfolk, VA 23510

Location

745 Duke Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-333-6299

Always Free Parking

Get Directions

Visiting Artist Series

Bringing the world’s top glass art talent to Hampton Roads
Find out more

Studio Team

Meet the brilliant minds behind the Studio.
See the team

Give the Chrysler Experience

Share everything you love about the Chrysler Museum with a gift membership. Perfect for everyone on your list.

The Masterpiece Society

Learn about this innovative group of museum supporters.
Meet the Masterpiece Society

Planned Giving

Help ensure the long-term success of the Museum.
Learn about planned giving

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ArtExhibitionsPast

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian

On View

March 16, 2017 — July 30, 2017

Location

Past Exhibition

The art of Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian reflects a life lived between two cultures. It combines the rich patterns and geometry found in the folk art heritage of her native Iran with the modern abstract art of the New York City avant garde.

Monir Farmanfarmaian had planned to follow her University of Tehran art training with an education in Paris, but World War II got in the way.

Monir Farmanfarmaian, Third Family - Heptagon
DETAIL: Monir Farmanfarmaian, Third Family - Heptagon, 2011. Mirror, reverse-glass painting, and acrylic. Courtesy of the artist and Haines Gallery. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick.
Monir Farmanfarmaian at work in her studio, 1975.
Monir Farmanfarmaian at work in her studio, 1975.

She worked and studied in the U.S. until 1957, studying dance with Martha Graham, and hanging out with Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Larry Rivers. When she was making ends meet working in the Bonwit Teller advertising department, her co-worker and friend was Andy Warhol.

She returned to Iran following her marriage to Abolbashar Farmanfarmaian, and the couple were social mainstays in a high time for Iranian art. They hosted the Kennedys, entertained visiting curators, and exhibited extensively in her country and even in the Venice Biennale. She had forged her own form of geometric abstraction, one based in both Islamic tradition and Modernism.

Everything changed with 1979 Iranian Revolution and the crackdown that followed. Stranded in New York, their home was confiscated, her artwork destroyed. It would be another 25 years before she could return. She’s in her 90s now, and thanks to eased censorship and political reform, she’s still working.

In 2014 a major exhibition of her work was organized by the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Portugal and traveled to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York in 2015.

Thanks to those exhibitions, she’s been internationally hailed by the media, the critics, and the gallery-going public. A documentary was made of her amazing life, and early on in that film, she established her unassuming tone. “I’m just a person with a good eye who happens to work with mirrors.”

Monir Farmanfarmaian Third Family - Heptagon
Monir Farmanfarmaian Third Family - Heptagon, 2011 Mirror, reverse-glass painting, and acrylic Courtesy of the artist and Haines Gallery Photo: Robert Divers Herrick.
Monir Farmanfarmaian Third Family
SIDE VIEW: Monir Farmanfarmaian Third Family - Pentagon, 2011 Mirror, reverse-glass painting, and acrylic Courtesy of the artist and Haines Gallery Photo: Robert Divers Herrick.
More special exhibitions

On view right now

Jacket and shorts set made out of candy wrappers
Through April 28, 2024

Peers: Mixed Media Work and the Tenth Annual Wearable Arts Exhibition
Exhibition Details

Painting of parents and child on floral background
Through March 31, 2024

Hampton Roads Student Gallery
Exhibition Details