Manoucher Yektai Information

Manoucher Yektai’s heavily-impastoed oeuvre stands out as a vivid fusion of cultures. Born in 1921 in Tehran, Manoucher Yektai declared himself a painter at the age of eighteen. He left Iran for Paris in 1944, however the war derailed his plan and he found himself in New York in 1945. Yektai became an integral part of the emergence of the early New York School-or what would later be called the Abstract Expressionist movement. He was the first Iranian artist to be confronted with this new, highly experimental form of painting. In fact, his first one man show at the Grace Borgenicht Gallery in 1950 was historic, as it was the first time an Iranian born artist had ever had a show outside of Iran. Yektai created lasting friendships with Mark Rothko, Mark Tobey, and Philip Guston. Franz Kline, Willem DeKooning, and Robert Motherwell remained close to him until the end. Manoucher Yektai outlived them all and died in Sagaponack, NY in 2019.

ON VIEW
SFMOMA, San Francisco, California | August 21, 2021 Open Ended: Painting and Sculpture, 1900 to Now
FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS
Karma, Los Angeles | 2024 Solo Exhibition
RECENT PAST EXHIBITIONS
Karma, New York | September 30 – November 13, 2021 Solo Exhibition
Karma, New York | July 30 – September 13, 2020 (Nothing But) Flowers
Giardino Segreto, Milan, Italy | October 9, 2019 – November 15, 2019 For a Rainy Day
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
MOMA, New York City, New York
SFMOMA, San Francisco, California
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC
Guild Hall, East Hampton, New York
Poindexter Collection, Yellowstone Museum of Art, Billings, Montana