loading loading
Arshile Gorky Catalogue Raisonné

Catalogue Entry

enlarge
Photo: Courtesy the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
D0170
[Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia: Objects]
1932
Ink and graphite pencil on laid paper
18 3/4 x 24 3/4 in. (47.6 x 62.9 cm)
Recto, in ink, upper right: Gorky
Verso not inscribed
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.,
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert A. Goldstone (1992.110.1)
Provenance
Peter Busa, New York
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York (by 1953)
Margit Chanin, New York (December 3, 1957)
Hilda and Herbert A. Goldstone, New York (by 1965)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., by gift (1992)
Exhibitions
1953d New York likely
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, Selections from the Martha Jackson Gallery Collection, Summer 1953, no. 20, as "Untitled," dated 1933.
1957d New York likely
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, American and European Drawings Exhibition, May 8–June 15, 1957, as "Ink Drawing I," dated c. 1934.
1965b Brooklyn
Brooklyn Museum, New York, The Herbert A. Goldstone Collection of American Art, June 15–September 12, 1965, no. 29, ill., p. 34, as "Night Time, Enigma and Nostalgia".
1995 Washington, D.C.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Recent Acquisitions of Works of Art on Paper, July 2–December 31, 1995.
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, ill. in b/w, p. 148, as "Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia" (not exhibited).
Notes
Watermark / Stamp: Arches
Arches paper with watermark, lower left: Ingres [in script]; lower right: L'Ecolier [in script] / C & F

The verso inscription information is known from a photograph provided by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

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). 

Related Work
loading

Related Marginalia