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Catalogue Entry
D1281
(Untitled)
1946
Graphite pencil, ink, and crayon on paper
19 1/8 x 24 13/16 in. (48.6 x 63 cm)
Recto, in pencil, lower left: A Gorky / 46
Verso not seen
Verso not seen
Provenance
The artist
Julien Levy Gallery, New York (possibly by February 1947; by 1948)
Julien Levy, Bridgewater, Connecticut (1949)
Estate of Julien Levy (1981)
[Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York, Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Julien Levy Collection, November 4, 1981, lot 56]
Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston (likely November 4, 1981)
[Marisa del Re Gallery, New York (by September 1982)]
[David McKee Gallery, New York]
[Katherine Komaroff Fine Arts Inc., New York (by 1989)]
Barbara Mathes Gallery Inc., New York (January 1989)
[Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe / New York (1990)]
[Sotheby's, New York, Contemporary Art, Part I, November 13, 1991, lot 15]
Byron Goldman, New York (November 13, 1991)
Present whereabouts unknown
Exhibitions
1947a New York possibly
Julien Levy Gallery, New York, Arshile Gorky: Colored Drawings, February 18–25, 1947.1951a New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, January 5–February 18, 1951, no. 87, ill. in b/w, p. 29; p. 48, as "Drawing". Traveled to: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, March 4–April 22, 1951; San Francisco Museum of Art, California, May 9–July 9, 1951.1961–62 IC–MoMA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, International Council (organizer), Mostra di Disegni Americani Moderni, 1961–62, as "Drawing," [Spoleto: no. 21; Paris: no. 21; London: no. 20; Bonn: no. 22]. Traveled to: Palazzo Ancaiani, Spoleto, Italy, June 16–July 16, 1961 (as Mostra di Disegni Americani Moderni); Centre Culturel Américain, Paris, June 6–July 10, 1962 (as Dessins Américains Contemporains); USIS Gallery, American Embassy, London, July 16–August 11, 1962 (as Contemporary American Drawings); Städtische Kunstsammlungen, Bonn, Germany, August 28–September 30, 1962 (as Amerikanische Zeichnungen: 1942–1961); [Unknown venue], Israel, [dates unknown].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. 88, p. 55, as "Drawing". Traveled to: Washington Gallery of Modern Art, D.C., March 12–April 14, 1963.1982b New York
Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, Selected Works on Paper, March 2–April 3, 1982, as "Untitled".1982 MFA Houston
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (organizer), Pinacothèque Nationale, Athens, Greece, Modern American Paintings, September 20–November 7, 1982, no. 28, as "Untitled".1984 Houston
Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, Master Drawings: 1928–1984, March–April 1984, no. 3, ill. in color, as "Untitled".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. 15, ill. in b/w, p. 72, as "Untitled". Traveled to: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 13, 1986–January 21, 1987; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, February 21–April 19, 1987.1989–90 Madrid
Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundación Caja de Pensiones, Madrid, Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, October 17–December 23, 1989, no. 85, ill. in color, p. 150, as "Untitled". Traveled to: Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, January 19–March 25, 1990.Literature
Loftus 1952
Loftus, John. "Arshile Gorky: A Monograph." M.A. Thesis, Columbia University, New York, 1952, pl. XXIX, ill. in b/w, as "Drawing".Reiff 1961
Reiff, Robert F. "A Stylistic Analysis of Arshile Gorky's Art from 1943–1948." Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, New York, 1961, fig. 35, ill. in b/w, p. 313, as "Drawing".Levy 1966
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 153, ill. in b/w, p. 177, as "Drawing".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. 77, ill. in b/w, as "Untitled".Barbara Mathes Gallery 1989
Barbara Mathes Gallery. Selections: Fall 1989. New York: Barbara Mathes Gallery, 1989, no. 22, ill. in color, as "Untitled".Notes
Commentary
Based on the fact that this drawing was known to have been in the inventory of the Julien Levy Gallery, it is probable, though unconfirmed, that it was included in the gallery's exhibition Arshile Gorky: Colored Drawings which opened in mid-February 1947.
Related Work
Theme: Virginia landscape
Arshile Gorky in New York, c. 1935. Unknown photographer. © The Arshile Gorky Foundation. Gift of the Estate of Anna Walinska.
The Arshile Gorky Foundation is pleased to present a fully-searchable catalogue raisonné of Arshile Gorky’s known paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, and textile. The present installment provides the most up-to-date and authoritative documentation on over two thousand known works created by Gorky between 1924, the year the artist moved to New York, and 1948, the year of his death. It is a living project that we continue to augment with new information upon the confirmation of our ongoing research. Full access to the Arshile Gorky Catalogue Raisonné is available to users at no charge.