Highlights from the auction house’s ‘20th Century Art/Middle East’ sale, which begins online March 23 Inspired by studio portraiture from Iran’s Qajar dynasty in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ghadirian’s series of 33 portraits features models dressed in vintage clothes — short skirts worn over baggy trousers — but in each image is an incongruously modern element: A Pepsi can, a guitar, a pair of sunglasses, or — as here — a boombox (held by the artist’s sister, Nikki). The resulting portraits capture the dichotomy of womens’ lives in Iran, the contrast between the traditional and the modern, East and West, the public and private faces. “This conflict between old and new is how the younger generation are currently living in Iran,” Ghadirian told The Guardian in 2013. “We may embrace modernity, but we"re still in love with our country"s traditions.”