Arshile Gorky Catalogue Raisonné
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D0166a
[Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia: Objects]
c. 1932–34
Ink, ink wash, and graphite pencil on blue paper
19 7/8 x 25 1/2 in. (50.5 x 64.8 cm)
Not inscribed
Present whereabouts unknown
Exhibitions
1990 Santa Fe
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, Arshile Gorky: Three Decades of Drawings, September 22–October 4, 1990, no. 13, ill. in color, as "Study for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia," dated c. 1930–34. Traveled to: Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, October 11–31, 1990; Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, November 5–21, 1990; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, April 7–May 5, 1991.
1993 Greenville
Greenville County Museum of Art, North Carolina, Arshile Gorky, July 7–August 22, 1993, no. 7, as "Study for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia".
Notes

Commentary

In 1929, Gorky began a series of abstract works which is now referred to as "Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia." While he continued working on this until 1936, it was between 1931 and 1934 when he was most dedicated to developing the composition. Ultimately, he produced nearly one hundred drawings and three related paintings. The body of work can be divided into subsets, such as Objects and Enigma, which were Gorky's own titles, as well as the posthumously titled "Fish and Head," "Column with Objects" and "Écorché." This drawing is part of the subset Objects, of which there are thirty-two known examples. Its title derives from that which Gorky gave to the drawing D0140, when it was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in January 1941 (see that work's commentary). 

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