MANOUCHER YEKTAI's life has brought him through three cultures: Iran, France, the United States. This trajectory can be seen as a search for Modernism, and for a participation in Modernism, indeed, for a home in it. For a painter, the itinerary seems clear in its meaning: from Iran where, under Islamic strictures about imagery, free artistic expression was not available, first (with a brief pause in New York) to the ripe ambience of the School of Paris, then (more permanently) to the fledgling excitement of the emerging New York School. But Yektai's development, seen in a larger frame, has not been entirely simple and linear.

His trajectory through three cultures seems nomadic, and his identification with Modern New York seems an ac...