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Lot Essay
Born in 1921 in Tehran, Manoucher Yektai studied art in Paris at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, from 1946 to 1947. Then, he went to the United States of America and joined the popular Arts Student League of New York for one year following which he started his career in the 1950s. His oeuvre combines many influences of great American artists such as Willem De Kooning (1904-1997) and Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) who remarkably helped him understand the gestural Abstract Expressionist trend. He therefore succeeded in elaborating a personal style by distancing himself from the complete abstraction, as he said in his own words ‘I was a figurative painter’.
Manoucher Yektai grasped the present moment through his powerful brushstrokes and thick impastos, plunging the viewer into a captivating painterly universe. He effectively detached his compositions from any spatial and temporal guidelines such as in this nude piece painted in 1983-1984. Lasciviously sitting on a white chair with gold decoration, a naked woman occupies the centre of the canvas and is staring straight at the spectator with a deep expression in her eyes. This piece exemplifies the artist’s taste for theatricality that he usually explored in his art. In the background, blue curtains open the space as if the first act on stage begins, introducing the plot with the woman’s appearance. Yektai represented a calm atmosphere where every object and motif is meticulously drawn in order to recreate a real stage that the solitary figure majestically dominates. The beautiful model, with a smile of either content or provocation, poses as if she is an actress and has the lead role in the play. Consequently, the limits between reality and fiction are blurred. The figure seems to know that she will be admired and she proudly exhibits her naked body sculpted with thick and gestural brushstrokes. The painterly dynamics create a sense of immediacy and offer a concrete rendering of the woman’s presence, which establishes an extraordinary relation between the model and the viewer: this new ‘Olympia’ charms and attracts. Using thick impasto and contrasting the luminous light pink skin with a few areas of blue and black in the background, the artist intensified the woman’s imposing presence as she seems to be floating in the predominantly white setting. To some extent, this masterpiece celebrates female beauty and sensuality which are materialised by the vibrant red flowers in the vase. He transformed an ordinary theme using the paint’s substance to define the subject and setting, and by associating illusionism and figuration, he presents a narrative that unleashes the mind into a wonderful imaginary world.
Manoucher Yektai grasped the present moment through his powerful brushstrokes and thick impastos, plunging the viewer into a captivating painterly universe. He effectively detached his compositions from any spatial and temporal guidelines such as in this nude piece painted in 1983-1984. Lasciviously sitting on a white chair with gold decoration, a naked woman occupies the centre of the canvas and is staring straight at the spectator with a deep expression in her eyes. This piece exemplifies the artist’s taste for theatricality that he usually explored in his art. In the background, blue curtains open the space as if the first act on stage begins, introducing the plot with the woman’s appearance. Yektai represented a calm atmosphere where every object and motif is meticulously drawn in order to recreate a real stage that the solitary figure majestically dominates. The beautiful model, with a smile of either content or provocation, poses as if she is an actress and has the lead role in the play. Consequently, the limits between reality and fiction are blurred. The figure seems to know that she will be admired and she proudly exhibits her naked body sculpted with thick and gestural brushstrokes. The painterly dynamics create a sense of immediacy and offer a concrete rendering of the woman’s presence, which establishes an extraordinary relation between the model and the viewer: this new ‘Olympia’ charms and attracts. Using thick impasto and contrasting the luminous light pink skin with a few areas of blue and black in the background, the artist intensified the woman’s imposing presence as she seems to be floating in the predominantly white setting. To some extent, this masterpiece celebrates female beauty and sensuality which are materialised by the vibrant red flowers in the vase. He transformed an ordinary theme using the paint’s substance to define the subject and setting, and by associating illusionism and figuration, he presents a narrative that unleashes the mind into a wonderful imaginary world.