Manoucher Yektai, Attributed/Manner of:...

Abstract Still Life Composition, 1952. Manoucher Yektai (Iranian-American, 1921–2019)

Vibrant abstract composition executed on paper, presenting a dynamic arrangement of organic and geometric forms in saturated yellow, red, magenta, violet, green, blue, orange, and black. The work is structured around two principal clusters of interlocking shapes, set against an expansive yellow field that gives the composition remarkable luminosity and visual energy.

The spontaneous arrangement of rounded forms, sweeping linear accents, and contrasting blocks of color reflects the expressive vocabulary associated with Yektai’s postwar modernist practice, in which recognizable still-life elements were often transformed into energetic fields of color and gesture. The composition balances immediacy with structure, creating a lively tension between abstraction and suggestions of fruit, vessels, and tabletop forms.

Executed in colored crayon and/or oil pastel on paper, with visible layered strokes and direct, expressive handling. Signed “Yektai” at the lower right and dated “52.”

The reverse appears largely blank, with scattered light age-related spotting and no clearly legible inscriptions or labels visible in the supplied photograph.

A colorful and highly decorative mid-century modern composition with strong visual presence, energetic color relationships, and the lyrical abstraction closely associated with Yektai’s work during the early 1950s.

DIMENSIONS
Height: 8 1/2 in.
Width: 11 7/8 in.

PROVENANCE
Private collection.