During 1970s Iran's oil revenue had increased and the king and queen of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Farah Diba decided to establish a museum of contemporary art in order to modernize their country.[2][3]Suicide (Purple Jumping Man) was among the paintings that Tony Shafrazi, the Iranian-born American art dealer, bought for the collection of this museum.[4]
At that time, Andy Warhol was interested in the idea and painted portraits of the king and his wife.[3]
Style
Suicide (Purple Jumping Man) depicts two images in sequence, recorded by a documentary photographer, silk-screened in black ink on a purple ground.[5]
According to Tony Shafrazi, Suicide (Purple Jumping Man) is one of the greatest works of Warhol. Shafrazi estimates the painting's value at 70 million dollars.[4]