The results of the Fourth Tehran Auction in 2015 clearly indicated that Manouchehr Yektaie deserved to be granted a new, elevated status in the contemporary art market. It seems that his work has been enjoying, perhaps not before time, a new market in recent years, especially in comparison to the best sellers of the Iranian art market. It is so good that, unlike many artists, Yektaie is experiencing this increase in the value of his works during his lifetime. As the present work clearly indicates and apart from his reputation as an Abstract Expressionist or one who adhered to the New York School of artists, Yektaie is considered to be the architect of a unique style in Iranian modernism. In fact, his art has occasionally been considered inconsistent with Iranian modernism due to the fact that he has been living outside Iran. At times, his art has been considered the art of an expatriate, but a methodological as well as comparative study of his work against a collection of his published poetry indicates a fresh, and perhaps unexplored facet that may need a re-interpretation against the backdrop of Iranian modern art. One must note, however, that major proponents of Abstract Expressionism, including Willem De Kooning and Mark Rothko, were migrants as well.
Despite the limited application of paint in the present work, Yektaie has optimally benefitted from its effective, emotional capacity and a unique texture. Blank, negative space to him is just as important as thick patches of green and red. In fact, Yektaie’s work is characterized by thick layers of paint that look more concrete and palpable. Another major characteristic of his work, which is obvious in the present piece, is the optimal use of expressive and emotive capacities of paint, thus making his work romantic and sensational.
From a different perspective, Yektaie belongs to a group of Iranian modernists who, taking a fresh glimpse at the elements of the nature and still life, recreated a contemporary version of a major subject in the history of art – nature. Methodical and motivated like any other first generation Iranian modernist, Yektaie has taken a flower pot as his subject and achieved a desired visual expression through applying lively patches of green and red on a white, infinite surface.
As in a range of his works, Yektaie has endeavored to give priority to his unique modernism over common modernist interpretations of the work so much that a spectator would be able to perceive the clay pot not only through the sense of vision but through the sense of touch; it is a wet clay pot against an invisible background of which one can imagine a traditional courtyard with a pond in the middle. An interaction between colored and uncolored surfaces in the work has given rise to a romantic dialog. White, white, and again white … when suddenly a magical patch of color seeps from a corner to give birth to a flower pot.
