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Provenance
The artist
Julien Levy Gallery, New York (December 21, 1944)
Julien Levy, Bridgewater, Connecticut (1949) . . .
Estate of Arshile Gorky (after 1952)
Marcia S. and Frederick R. Weisman, Beverly Hills, California (May 1961)
Marcia S. Weisman, Beverly Hills, California (1979)
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, by bequest (1996)
Exhibitions
1945a New York possibly
Julien Levy Gallery, New York, Arshile Gorky, March 6–31, 1945. (Exhibition brochure: Breton 1945b).1951a New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, January 5–February 18, 1951, no. 70, ill. in b/w, p. 28; p. 48, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb". Traveled to: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, March 4–April 22, 1951; San Francisco Museum of Art, California, May 9–July 9, 1951.1962a Los Angeles
Everett Ellin Gallery, Los Angeles, Arshile Gorky: Forty Drawings from the Period 1929 thru 1947, April 9–May 5, 1962, no. 11, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".1962–63b New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, December 19, 1962–February 12, 1963. (Exhibition catalogue: Seitz 1962), no. 67, ill. in color, unpaginated plate between pp. 32–33; p. 54, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb". Traveled to: Washington Gallery of Modern Art, D.C., March 12–April 14, 1963.1965 AC–Brussels and Rotterdam
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Arshile Gorky, Paintings and Drawings / Arshile Gorky: Schilderijen en Tekeningen, 1965, no. 68, ill. in b/w, as "Voorstudie voor: 'De lever is de hanekam' / Study for 'The liver is the cock's comb'". Traveled to: Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, May 22–June 27, 1965; Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, July 24–September 5, 1965 (Museum Boymans van Beuingen 1965).1965 AC–London
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Tate Gallery, Arshile Gorky: Paintings and Drawings, April 2–May 2, 1965, no. 52, ill. in b/w, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".1977 Claremont
Montgomery Art Gallery, Pomona College, Claremont, California, Works on Paper 1900–1960 from California Collections, September 18–October 27, 1977, no. 22, ill. in color, p. 122, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb". Traveled to: M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, November 11–December 31, 1977.1981–82 New York
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 158, ill. in color, p. 187, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb". Traveled to: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, September 12–November 6, 1981; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 3, 1981–February 28, 1982.1986–87 Newport Beach
Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California, The Interpretive Link: Abstract Surrealism into Abstract Expressionism: Works on Paper, 1938–1948, July 16–September 14, 1986, no. 11, ill. in color, p. 69, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb". Traveled to: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 13, 1986–January 21, 1987; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, February 21–April 19, 1987.1995–96 Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art, The Temporary Contemporary, Los Angeles, Images of an Era, October 15, 1995–June 23, 1996.1998 Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Selections form the Marcia Simon Weisman Collection, May 24–August 30, 1998.1999–2000 Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Selections from the Marcia Simon Weisman Collection of Works on Paper, December 12, 1999–March 5, 2000.2001–02 Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, A Room of Their Own: From Rothko to Rauschenberg, February 11, 2001–March 31, 2002.2003–04b New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective of Drawings, November 20, 2003–February 15, 2004, no. 73, ill. in color, pp. 67, 139; p. 243, as "Study for The Liver Is the Cock's Comb". Traveled to: Menil Collection, Houston, March 5–May 9, 2004.2009–10 Philadelphia
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, October 15, 2009–January 10, 2010. (Exhibition catalogue: Taylor 2009a), pl. 113, ill. in color, p. 274; p. 389, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb". Traveled to: Tate Modern, London, February 10–May 3, 2010 (Gale 2010); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, June 6–September 20, 2010 (Gale 2010).Literature
de Kooning 1951
de Kooning, Elaine. "Gorky: Painter of his Own Legend." Artnews (New York) 49, no. 9 (January 1951), ill. in b/w, p. 41, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Goodrich 1951a
Goodrich, Lloyd. "Eight Works by Arshile Gorky with Notes by Lloyd Goodrich." Magazine of Art (Washington, D.C.) 44 (February 1951), ill. in b/w, p. 60, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Loftus 1952
Loftus, John. "Arshile Gorky: A Monograph." M.A. Thesis, Columbia University, New York, 1952, pl. XXIV, ill. in b/w, as "The Liver is The Cock's comb, study".Schwabacher 1957
Schwabacher, Ethel. Arshile Gorky. Introduction by Meyer Schapiro. New York: The Macmillan Company for the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1957. Monograph, fig. 38, ill. in b/w, p. 88, as "The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Seldis 1962b
Seldis, Henry J. "In the Galleries: Show Traces Gorky's Stylistic Development." Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1962, discussed p. 5, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Rosenberg 1962c
Rosenberg, Harold. "Action Painting: A Decade of Distortion." Artnews (New York) 61, no. 8 (December 1962), ill. in color, p. 45, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Levy 1966
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 6, ill. in b/w, p. 19, as "Study for The Liver Is the Cock's Comb".Rose 1967
Rose, Barbara. American Art Since 1900: A Critical History. New York & Washington: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1967, fig. 6–17, ill. in b/w, p. 170.Rand 1981
Rand, Harry. Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols. Montclair, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun & Co. Publishers Inc., and London: George Prior Associated Publishers Ltd., 1981. Monograph, fig. 12–7, ill. in b/w, p. 184, as "The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Jordan 1982a
Jordan, Jim M. "The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: New Discoveries, New Sources, and Chronology." In The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue, by Jim M. Jordan and Robert Goldwater. New York and London: New York University Press, 1982, discussed p. 83, as "The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Seitz 1983
Seitz, William C. Abstract Expressionist Painting in America. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press for the National Gallery of Art, 1983, fig. 69, ill. in color, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Lader 1985
Lader, Melvin P. Arshile Gorky. New York: Abbeville Press, 1985. Monograph, fig. 73, ill. in color, p. 79, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Rand 1991
Rand, Harry. Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols. Rev. ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991. Monograph, fig. 12–7, ill. in b/w, p. 207, as "The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Lader 1992
Lader, Melvin P. "Arshile Gorky: A Modern Artist in the Academic Tradition / Arshile Gorky: Un Artista Moderno Nella Tradizione Accademica." In Arshile Gorky: Works on Paper / Opere su Carta. Rome: Edizioni Carte Segrete, 1992. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 11, ill. in b/w, p. 30, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Sawin 1995
Sawin, Martica. Surrealism in Exile and the Beginning of the New York School. Cambridge, MA, and London: The MIT Press, 1995, discussed p. 326, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Karmel 2002
Karmel, Pepe. "Arshile Gorky: Anatomical Blackboard." Master Drawings (New York) 40 (2002), fig. 8, ill. in color, p. 16, as "The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Herrera 2003
Herrera, Hayden. Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003, fig. 159, ill. in b/w, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Rushing 2004
Rushing, W. Jackson. "Arshile Gorky's Inner Infinity." Art on Paper (New York) 8, no. 4 (March–April 2004), ill. in color, p. 69, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Mattison 2009
Matttison, Robert S. Arshile Gorky: Works and Writings. Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafica, 2009. Monograph, ill. in color, p. 69, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Gale 2010
Gale, Matthew. Arshile Gorky: Enigma and Nostalgia. London: Tate Publishing, 2010. Exhibition catalogue (2009–10 Philadelphia), no. 30, ill. in color, p. 68, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Harvey 2010
Harvey, Doug. "Gorky's Debt: The Genealogy of an Action Pioneer." Los Angeles Weekly, July 8, 2010, discussed, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Khachatourian 2010
Khachatourian, Ara. "Arshile Gorky Comes to Los Angeles." Asbarez Newspaper (Los Angeles), June 4, 2010, ill. in color.Spender 2010
Spender, Matthew. Una storia armena Vita di Arshile Gorky. Florence: Barbès Editore, 2010, ill. in b/w, p. 286; p. 428, as "disegno per The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Karmel 2021
Karmel, Pepe. "The Blue Veil: Arshile Gorky's Untitled (Virginia Summer)." In Arshile Gorky: Beyond The Limit, edited by Jennifer Magee. Zurich: Hauser & Wirth Publishers, 2021. Exhibition catalogue, discussed p. 18, as "Study for The Liver is the Cock's Comb".Notes
Watermark / Stamp: Strathmore