Manoucher Yektai's Early Works Surveyed in Los Angeles Exhibition

From September 20 to November 1, 2025, Karma Gallery in Los Angeles showcased "Beginnings," an exhibition featuring early works by Iranian painter Manoucher Yektai (1921–2019). Curated by Negar Azimi, the display included paintings created between 1948 and 1969 across two separate rooms. Yektai, who received training in Tehran, New York, and Paris, uniquely fused European modernism with his Persian roots. Significant works on display were Untitled (1948) and Untitled (1949). The exhibition illustrated Yektai's departure from the traditional abstraction-figuration divide, particularly in Still Life with Flowers (1952). In her 2022 book, scholar Fereshteh Daftari positioned Yektai as a pivotal figure in expanding Eurocentric abstraction in the US, underscoring his continued relevance.