Arshile Gorky Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Courtesy the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
D1059
[Drawing, The Plow and the Song]
1946
Charcoal, pastel, graphite pencil, and oil on paper mounted on paper
48 1/16 x 59 3/16 in. (122.1 x 150.3 cm)
Recto not inscribed
Verso not seen
Exhibitions
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, Drawings for Principal Paintings by Gorky, September 26–October 22, 1955, no. 27, as "Plough and the Song".
Institute of Contemporary Art, Metropolitan Boston Arts Center, The Image Lost and Found, May 14–July 28, 1960, no. 22, p. 50, as "The Plow and the Song".
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, December 19, 1962–February 12, 1963. (Exhibition catalogue: Seitz 1962), no. 110, p. 56, as "Study (The Plough and the Song)". Traveled to: Washington Gallery of Modern Art, D.C., March 12–April 14, 1963.
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Arshile Gorky, Paintings and Drawings / Arshile Gorky: Schilderijen en Tekeningen, 1965, no. 129, as "Voorstudie (De ploeg en het lied) / Study (The plough and the song)". 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).
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Tate Gallery, Arshile Gorky: Paintings and Drawings, April 2–May 2, 1965, no. 91, as "Study (The Plough and the Song)".
M. Knoedler & Co. Inc, New York, Gorky: Drawings, November 25–December 27, 1969. (Exhibition catalogue: Jordan 1969), no. 114, ill. in b/w, p. 45; p. 60, as "Study for The Plough and the Song".
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., American Art at Mid-Century: The Subjects of the Artist, June 1, 1978–January 14, 1979, as "The Plow and the Song".
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 202, ill. in b/w, p. 224, as "Study for The Plow and the Song". Traveled to: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, September 12–November 6, 1981; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 3, 1981–February 28, 1982.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Graphic Survey Show, 1986–87.
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (organizers), Arshile Gorky: The Breakthrough Years, 1995–96, no. 38, ill. in color, p. 165, as "The Plow and the Song" (exhibited in Washington and Fort Worth only). Traveled to: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., May 7–September 17, 1995; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, October 13–December 31, 1995; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, January 13–March 17, 1996.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., A Century of Drawing: Works on Paper from Degas to LeWitt, November 18, 2001–April 7, 2002, no. 79, ill. in color, p. 179, as "The Plow and the Song".
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective of Drawings, November 20, 2003–February 15, 2004, no. 100, ill. in color, p. 179; p. 244, as "The Plow and the Song". Traveled to: Menil Collection, Houston, March 5–May 9, 2004.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, October 15, 2009–January 10, 2010. (Exhibition catalogue: Taylor 2009a), pl. 146, ill. in color, p. 306; p. 391, as "The Plow and the Song," [exhibited in Philadelphia only]. 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
Seitz, William C. "Arshile Gorky's The Plough and the Song." Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin (Oberlin, OH) 12 (Fall 1954), fig. 3, ill. in b/w, p. 11, as "The Plough and the Song".
Late Drawings by Gorky. New York: Sidney Janis Gallery, 1959. Exhibition catalogue (1959b New York), no. 37, ill. in b/w (in situ), as "Gallery View, Gorky Drawing Exhibition, October 1955".
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 185, ill. in b/w, p. 209, as "Study for The Plow and the Song".
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Foreword by J. Carter Brown. Rev. ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1976, pl. 1102, ill. in color, p. 687, as "The Plow and the Song".
Carmean, E.A., Jr. "Introduction." In American Art at Mid-Century: The Subjects of the Artist. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1978. Exhibition catalogue, pl. 3, ill. in color, p. 20, as "The Plow and the Song".
Rathbone, Eliza E. "Arshile Gorky: The Plow and the Song." In American Art at Mid-Century: The Subjects of the Artist. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1978. Exhibition catalogue, checklist no. 2, p. 60; fig. 13, ill. in b/w, p. 69; figs. 14–15, ill. in b/w (details), p. 70, as "The Plow and the Song".
FitzGerald, Michael. "Arshile Gorky's The Limit." Arts Magazine (New York) 54 (March 1980), fig. 4, ill. in b/w, p. 111, as "The Plow and the Song".
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. 12–22, ill. in b/w, p. 201, as "The Plow and the Song".
Seitz, William C. Abstract Expressionist Painting in America. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press for the National Gallery of Art, 1983, fig. 84, ill. in b/w, as "Study for The Plow and the Song".
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art. Foreword by J. Carter Brown. Rev. ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1984, no. 1109, ill. in color, p. 687, as "The Plow and the Song".
Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art (Revised and Enlarged Edition). New York: Hudson Hills Press, Inc., 1988, discussed p. 188, as "The Plough and the Song".
Rand, Harry. Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols. Rev. ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991. Monograph, fig. 12–22, ill. in b/w, p. 224, as "The Plow and the Song".
Balakian, Peter. "Arshile Gorky and the Armenian Genocide." Art in America (New York) 84 (February 1996), ill. in b/w, p. 66, as "The Plow and the Song".
Landi, Ann. "Arshile Gorky: Whitney Museum." Artnews (New York) 103 (April 2004), discussed p. 113, as "The Plow and the Song".
Landau, Ellen G., ed. Reading Abstract Expressionism: Context and Critique. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2005, pl. 6, ill. in color, as "The Plow and the Song".
Matttison, Robert S. Arshile Gorky: Works and Writings. Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafica, 2009. Monograph, ill. in color, p. 117, as "The Plow and the Song".
Theriault, Kim S. Rethinking Arshile Gorky. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2009. Monograph, fig. 47, ill. in b/w, p. 152, as "The Plow and the Song".
Field, Parker. "Beyond The Limit." In Arshile Gorky: Beyond The Limit, edited by Jennifer Magee. Zurich: Hauser & Wirth Publishers, 2021. Exhibition catalogue, discussed p. 12; ill. in color, p. 51, as "Untitled (The Plow and the Song)".
Notes

Recto, in pencil, lower right [by Agnes Gorky Phillips]: A. Gorky / [paraph]

The paper was affixed posthumously to a sheet of paper and mounted on a wood strainer.

Commentary

The drawing is related to the "Plow and the Song" series, in which there are three known paintings: P315, P316, and P317.

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