The contemporary Iranian art market has been garnering great interest and gaining momentum since the 1990s, and by the time auction houses started to hold major contemporary Middle Eastern art sales in the mid-2000s, Iranian artwork had begun to blossom into a viable and dynamic market, both in global reach and in sheer monetary success. It is my intent to focus on two important questions about this market. Initially, my thesis will seek to discover how the current Contemporary Iranian Art market has been shaped by both prosperous times before the 1979 Revolution in Iran and in the subsequent oppressive years that followed. Recent history of Iranian art movements, politics and culture will provide insight and set the backdrop for the present-day art scene and market. In addition, this thesis seeks to uncover how the Contemporary Iranian Art market is sustaining itself through an in-depth analysis of the markets five principal supporting pillars, all which have been the main source of patronage, support, and advocacy.