Location

226B American Modern

Description

After immigrating to the United States in 1920 and renaming himself after the Russian writer Maksim Gorky, Arshile Gorky set out to retrace the evolution of modern art. Almost wholly self-taught, he painted in various styles, mimicking Impressionism, Cubism, and especially the artistic style of Pablo Picasso. As he matured, his art combined the magical, dreamlike elements typical of Surrealism with the exuberance and emotional charge that would later be found in abstract expressionism. Around 1942, Gorky achieved the style for which he is most recognized. Untitled, with its swiftly drawn lines, sensuous biomorphic shapes, and spontaneous, luminous washes of color is an exceptional example of this period. In a letter to his sister, sent the year Untitled was painted, Gorky wrote: "It is as if some ancient Armenian spirit within me moves my hand to create . . .the shapes of nature we loved in the gardens . . . of our family in Khorkom. Our beautiful Armenia which we lost and which I will repossess in my art."

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signed lower right: A. Gorky

Citations

"Special Issue on Gorky in Italian and English with Text by Toti Scialoja and Excerpts from Schwabacher 1957." Arti Visive (Summer 1957). Reproduced: no. 10

Sidney Janis Gallery. Gorky. Sidney Janis Gallery, 1957. Reproduced: fig. 16 sova.si.edu

Coates, Robert M. "The Art Galleries." The New Yorker 33 (December 14, 1957). Mentioned: p. 142

Sidney Janis Gallery. Late Drawings by Gorky. Sidney Janis Gallery, 1959. Reproduced: p. 15

Rosenberg, Harold. Arshile Gorky: The Man, The Time, The Idea. New York: Horizon Press Inc., 1962. Reproduced: p. 81

Henning, Edward B. "In Pursuit of Content." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 50 (October 1963). Mentioned: p. 228; Reproduced: cover

"Year in Review 1963." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 50, no. 10 (December 1963). Reproduced: p. 295

Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Reproduced: plates 90, 103

Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 198 archive.org

Cleveland Museum of Art. Art of the Twentieth Century in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Dept. of Art History & Education, CMA, 1969. Mentioned: p. 3 archive.org

University of Texas at Austin. Arshile Gorky: Drawings to Paintings. Austin: University of Texas Art Museum, 1975. Mentioned: p. 104

Reiff, Robert F. A Stylistic Analysis of Arshile Gorky's Art from 1943-1948. New York and London: Garland Press, 1977. Reproduced: p. 339

Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 249 archive.org

Henning, Edward B. The Spirit of Surrealism. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1979. Mentioned: p. 140-141, 173; Reproduced: p. 141, fig. 82

David, Sue, Derald Wing Sue, and Stanley Sue. Understanding Abnormal Behavior. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981. Reproduced: p. 476-477

Waldman, Diane, and Arshile Gorky. Arshile Gorky, 1904-1948: A Retrospective. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1981. Reproduced: fig. 143

Merritt, Robert. "Virginia Setting Spurred Gorky's Maturity." Richmond Times Dispatch, June 14, 1981. Reproduced

Cullinan, Helen. "The First and Last of Arshile Gorky." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), July 5, 1981. Mentioned

Jordan, Jim M. "Gorky at the Guggenheim." Art Journal (College Art Association of America)41, no. 3 (August, 1981). Mentioned: p. 264

Jordan, Jim M., and Robert Goldwater. The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue. New York and London: New York University Press, 1982. Reproduced: p. 418

Lader, Melvin P. Arshile Gorky. New York: Abbeville Press, 1985. Mentioned: p. 82

Turner, Evan H. Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Mentioned: p. 181

Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. Reproduced: p. 89

Litt, Steven. "Great Details in Great Work." The Plain Dealer January 9, 2011. Mentioned

Exhibition history

Arshile Gorky 1904-1948: A Retrospective. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (April 24-July 19, 2981); Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (September 11-November 8, 1981); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (December 3, 1981-February 28, 1982).

The Spirit of Surrealism. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 3-November 25, 1979).

Arshile Gorky: Drawings to Paintings. University Art Museum, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (October 12-November 23, 1975); San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA (December 4, 1975-January 12, 1976); Neuberger Museum, Purchase College, State University of New York, Purchase, NY (February 10-March 14, 1976); Museum of Art, Munson Williams Proctor Institute, Utica, NY (April 4-May 9, 1976).

33 Paintings by Arshile Gorky. Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, NY (December 2-28, 1957).

Late Drawings by Gorky. Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, NY (September 28-October 24, 1959).

Year in Review (1963). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 26, 1963-January 5, 1964).

Arshile Gorky: Drawings to Paintings. Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (organizer) (October 12-November 23, 1975); The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (December 4, 1975-January 13, 1976); Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY (February 10-March 14, 1976); Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY (April 4-May 9, 1976).

Images of the Mind. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 7-August 30, 1987).

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).