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Photo: Peter Schälchli
D0167
[Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia: Objects]
c. 1931–33
Ink and graphite pencil on paper
15 x 21 15/16 in. (38.1 x 55.8 cm)
Recto not inscribed
Verso not seen
Verso not seen
Private collection
Provenance
Private collection (1975)
Private collection (December 2018)
Exhibitions
Museum of Modern Art, New York, International Council (organizer), Arshile Gorky Drawings, 1962–68, MoMA no. 62.1042, as "Untitled Drawing," dated c. 1932, [Tokyo: no. 9, ill. in b/w; Germany: no. 9; UK: no. 9; Vienna: no. 9; Lisbon: no. 9; Oslo: no. 9, ill. in b/w, p. 9; Lund: no. 9; Basel: no. 9; Zagreb: no. 9; Rome: no. 9, ill. in b/w; Buenos Aires: no. 9; Caracas: no. 9; Bogotá: no. 9; Mexico City: no. 9]. Traveled to: Newcomb College, Tulane University, New Orleans, September 23–October 14, 1962; Chatham College, Pittsburgh, October 29–November 19, 1962; Watkins Institute, Nashville, January 9–30, 1963; Spiva Art Center, Joplin, Missouri, February 7–28, 1963; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts, March 15–April 5, 1963; Marshall College, Huntington, West Virginia, April 22–May 13, 1963; Seibu Gallery, Seibu Department Store, Tokyo, July 26–August 11, 1963; Westmar College, LeMars, Iowa, September 2–23, 1963; Washington University, Saint Louis, October 4–25, 1963; Arts Club of Chicago, November 10–December 15, 1963; Indiana University, Bloomington, January 2–23, 1964; Wells College, Aurora, New York, February 7–28, 1964; Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, March 16–April 6, 1964; Jewish Museum, New York, April 21–June 30, 1964; Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany, July 6–August 5, 1964; Hamburger Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany, August 7–September 4, 1964; Amerika Haus, Berlin, September 11–October 6, 1964; Folkwangmuseum, Essen, Germany, October 15–November 15, 1964; York City Art Gallery, United Kingdom, December 5–30, 1964; Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, January 6–February 13, 1965; Midland Group Gallery, Nottingham, United Kingdom, February 20–March 6, 1965; City Art Gallery, Bristol, United Kingdom, March 13–April 3, 1965; National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, April 10–May 1, 1965; Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, May 27–June 27, 1965; Boymans-van-Beuningen, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, July 24–September 5, 1965; Museum des 20ten Jahrhunderts, Vienna, September 18–October 17, 1965; Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, Lisbon, November 23–December 23, 1965; Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, January 22–February 13, 1966; Lunds Konsthall, Lund, Sweden, March 5–April 1, 1966; Öffentliche Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland, April 30–June 5, 1966; Galerija Grada Zagreba, Zagreb, Yugoslavia, June 21–July 10, 1966; Galerija Doma Omladine, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, October 6–16, 1966; Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, April 2–May 15, 1967; Centro de Artes Visuales del Instituto Torcuato di Tella, Buenos Aires, November 29–December 23, 1967 (as Sobre papel: Obras de Arshile Gorky); Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, January 21–February 14, 1968; Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, Bogotá, Colombia, March 21–April 5, 1968; Galeria Universitaria Aristos, Mexico City, May 3–June 5, 1968.
M. Knoedler & Co. Inc, New York, Gorky: Drawings, November 25–December 27, 1969. (Exhibition catalogue: Jordan 1969), no. 16, ill. in b/w, p. 22; p. 55, as "Drawing," dated 1932.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 37, ill. in b/w, p. 92, as "Untitled," dated 1932. Traveled to: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, September 12–November 6, 1981; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 3, 1981–February 28, 1982.
Literature
Fujimatsu, Hiroshi. "Expert of Line and Life." Bijutsu Techo (Tokyo) 10 (October 1963), ill. in b/w, p. 9–10.
Waldman, Diane. "Arshile Gorky: Poet in Paint." In Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in collaboration with The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1981. Exhibition catalogue, discussed p. 28, as "Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia".
Karp, Diane. "Arshile Gorky: The Language of Art." Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1982, fig. 29, ill. in b/w, p. 197, as "Untitled Drawing (Study for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia)".
Seitz, William C. Abstract Expressionist Painting in America. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press for the National Gallery of Art, 1983, fig. 53, ill. in b/w, as "Untitled".
Notes
Watermark / Stamp: Bainbridge
Bainbridge paper with blindstamp, lower left: BAINBRIDGE / DRAWING BRISTOL
Recto, in pencil, lower right [by Agnes Gorky Phillips]: Gorky
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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