loading 
Catalogue Entry
enlarge
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
Verso not seen
Provenance
The artist
Julien Levy Gallery, New York (1947)
Julien Levy, Bridgewater, Connecticut (1949) . . .
Estate of Arshile Gorky (by 1953)
[Sidney Janis Gallery, New York (May 13, 1953)]
Elvine "V.V." [Magruder] and Paul Scott Rankine, Washington, D.C. (by October 29, 1955)
[Stephen Mazoh & Co. Inc., New York (after 1966)]
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1971)
Exhibitions
1955c New York
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, Drawings for Principal Paintings by Gorky, September 26–October 22, 1955, no. 27, as "Plough and the Song".1960b Boston
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".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. 110, p. 56, as "Study (The Plough and the Song)". 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. 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).1965 AC–London
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)".1969e New York
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".1978–79 Washington, D.C.
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".1981–82 New York
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, 1982.1986–87a Washington, D.C.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Graphic Survey Show, 1986–87.1995–96 Fort Worth / Buffalo
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, 1996.2001–02 Washington, D.C.
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".2003–04b New York
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, 2004.2009–10 Philadelphia
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 1954
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".Sidney Janis Gallery 1959
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 1966
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 1976
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 1978
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 1978
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 1980
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 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. 12–22, ill. in b/w, p. 201, as "The Plow and the Song".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. 84, ill. in b/w, as "Study for The Plow and the Song".Walker 1984
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 1988
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 1991
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 1996
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 2004
Landi, Ann. "Arshile Gorky: Whitney Museum." Artnews (New York) 103 (April 2004), discussed p. 113, as "The Plow and the Song".Landau 2005
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".Mattison 2009
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 2009a
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 2021
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)".Related Work
loading
