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Arshile Gorky Catalogue Raisonné

Catalogue Entry

D0116
(Untitled)
c. 1929–30
Ink and ink wash on paper
30 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
Recto, in ink, lower right: Gorky
Verso not seen
Private collection
Provenance
The artist
Julien Levy Gallery, New York (1932)
Julien Levy, Bridgewater, Connecticut (1949)
[Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago (by 1968)]
[M. Knoedler & Co. Inc., New York (by November 1969)]
[Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago (after December 1969)]
[Galerie Brusberg, Hannover, Germany (May 7, 1971)]
[Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago (after August 1971)]
[Dunkelman Gallery, Toronto (July 1972)]
Private collection, Toronto (by November 1972)
[Sotheby's, New York, Contemporary Art, Part II, November 2, 1994, lot 91]
Private collection (November 2, 1994)
[Christie's, New York, Post-War and Contemporary Art: Morning Session, November 16, 2017, lot 728]
Private collection (November 16, 2017)
Exhibitions
1969 Chicago
Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago, Arshile Gorky: Drawings from the Julien Levy Collection, March 18–April 26, 1969, no. 1, as "Untitled".
1969 Saratoga Springs
Hathorn Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, The Drawings of Arshile Gorky, October 21–November 9, 1969, no. 6, ill. in b/w, as "Untitled Drawing," 1931.
1969e New York
M. Knoedler & Co. Inc, New York, Gorky: Drawings, November 25–December 27, 1969. (Exhibition catalogue: Jordan 1969), no. 30, ill. in b/w, p. 26; p. 56, as "Untitled," dated 1931.
1971 Hannover
Galerie Brusberg, Hannover, Germany, Arshile Gorky, June 18–August 31, 1971, ill. in b/w, p. 9, as "ohne Titel".
1972 Toronto
Dunkelman Gallery, Toronto, Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, October 14–20, 1972, no. 5, ill. in b/w, as "Untitled (from sketchbook)," dated 1931.
1973 Hannover
Galerie Brusberg, Hannover, Germany, Umkreis Surrealismus, 1973, no. 17/75, ill. in b/w, p. 25, as "ohne Titel".
Literature
Levy 1966
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 54, ill. in b/w (upside down), p. 78, as "Untitled," dated 1931.
Mellow 1968
Mellow, James R. "The Most Elegant Stylist." Review of Arshile Gorky, by Julien Levy. New York Times Book Review, March 31, 1968, ill. in b/w (upside down), p. 7, as "Untitled".
Notes
When the drawing was exhibited in 1972, it was described as "from [a] sketchbook," which is unidentified.

Commentary

After living in Paris during the late 1920s, Julien Levy (1906–1981) returned to his birthplace of New York, opening a small gallery in 1931 at 602 Madison Avenue, specializing in Surrealist art and photography. Gorky came to the gallery frequently in the hopes of obtaining a show, offering examples of his work to Levy, such as this drawing, which the dealer purchased.1 Although Levy acquired several works and lent Gorky money, he did not offer him a contract at the time, finding his work too derivative.2 When first showing Levy a sample portfolio in the winter of 1932, Gorky reportedly exclaimed, “I was with Cézanne for a long time, and now naturally I am with Picasso. . . .” Levy, in turn, responded that he would show his work, "someday, when you are with Gorky. . . ."3

Gorky was offered a formal contract with Levy's gallery in December 1944. His debut solo show opened in March 1945.4

1. Julien Levy Gallery Records, 1932 Ledger, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Library and Archives.

2. Julien Levy, "Foreword," in Arshile Gorky: Paintings, Drawings, Studies, exh. cat. (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1962), 7. 

3. Ibid.

4. Julien Levy Gallery, New York, Arshile Gorky, March 6–31, 1945. The drawings that appeared in the exhibition have not been conclusively identified as any of the artworks within the current installment of the catalogue raisonné. 

After works by other artists: Pablo Picasso

Related Work
Composition No. 3c. 1929–30 P078
Composition No. 3
c. 1929–30
Oil on canvas
P078
Oil on canvas