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Commentary
In July 1943, the Gorkys left New York with their three-month-old daughter Maro and took up residence in the recently acquired Lincoln, Virginia, home of Agnes "Mougouch" Gorky's parents, Esther (1896–1990) and John H. Magruder II (1889–1963). The young family enjoyed an extended stay at Crooked Run Farm, as it was known, in large part because Gorky was so taken with his natural surroundings. By November, when they returned to New York, Gorky had created over one hundred pencil and crayon drawings, of which this is likely one. In an April 1944 article for Harper's Bazaar, the Museum of Modern Art curator James Johnson Sweeney (1900–1986) wrote of how the artist had "look[ed] into the grass" that summer, resulting in a "freshness and personalization of idiom which Gorky had never previously approached, and a new vocabulary of forms."1
Having reduced his activity as a dealer during the early years of the war, Julien Levy (1906–1981) moved his gallery to its final location of 42 East 57th Street in March 1943. He signed a contract with Gorky in December 1944. Levy had known Gorky for over ten years at this point, without having shown an interest in representing his work. He offered the artist a contract following a recommendation from André Breton (1896–1966), who promised to write an introductory essay to Gorky’s debut solo show, which opened in March 1945.2 This drawing is among the first selection of works that Levy received from the artist on December 21, 1944. Based on this fact, it is probable, though unconfirmed, that it was included in the 1945 exhibition.
1. James Johnson Sweeney, "Five American Painters," Harper's Bazaar (April 1944); reprinted in Ethel Schwabacher, "Arshile Gorky," in Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, exh. cat. (New York: Plantin Press, 1951), 30.
2. Julien Levy Gallery, New York, Arshile Gorky, March 6–31, 1945.