Arshile Gorky Catalogue Raisonné
Print this page

Catalogue Entry

D0173
[Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia: Enigma]
c. 1931–34
India ink and ink on paper
21 1/8 x 31 in. (53.7 x 78.7 cm)
Recto, in ink, center right: A. Gorky
Verso not inscribed
New Jersey State Museum Collection,
Museum Purchase, FA1988.23
Exhibitions
1981–82 New York
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 36a, as "Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia," [not in catalogue]. Traveled to: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, September 12–November 6, 1981; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 3, 1981–February 28, 1982.
1982 Houston
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Miró in America, April 21–June 27, 1982, ill. in b/w, fig. 28, p. 26, as "Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia".
1983–85 SKAC
Smith Kramer Art Connections, Kansas City, Missouri (organizer), American Works on Paper: 100 Years of American Art History, 1983–85, no. 34, ill. in b/w, p. 43, as "Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia". Traveled to: Davenport Art Gallery, Iowa, December 11, 1983–February 12, 1984; Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, February 24–April 8, 1984; Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, April 15–May 20, 1984; Wichita Falls Museum, Texas, May 27–July 1, 1984; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, July 8–August 12, 1984; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, August 19–September 23, 1984; Gardiner Art Gallery, Stillwater, Oklahoma, November 11–December 16, 1984; Sangre de Cristo Art Center, Pueblo, Colorado, January 4–March 3, 1985; Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, March 17–April 21, 1985; Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria, Illinois, May 5–June 9, 1985; Salina Art Center, Kansas, August 11–September 15, 1985; Springfield Art Museum, Missouri, September 29–November 3, 1985; University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington, November 17–December 29, 1985.
Literature
Bayer et al 2016
Bayer, Virginia, Matt Damor, and Gerd Zilner. Designing Tomorrow. Friedrich Kieslers Mergentime Apartment. Vienna: Friedrich Kiesler Stiftung, 2016. Exhibition catalogue, ill. in b/w (in situ).
Notes
The verso inscription information is known from photographs provided by the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton.

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 that 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 the posthumously titled "Fish and Head," "Column with Objects" and "Écorché." Two subsets reference confirmed lifetime titles: Objects and Enigma. The latter's source, a painting (P120), is related to six known drawings, including this work.1

The painting's first owner was Marguerita Mergentime (1894–1941), a noted textile designer. She may have met Gorky through the Austrian-American architect, Frederick Kiesler (1890–1965), who Gorky had known since 1926. By the fall of 1935, Mergentime's name was included on a list of Gorky collectors assembled by the Guild Art Gallery in New York, where the artist had recently signed a three-year contract.2

1. See also: D0174a, D0175a, D0176, D0177, and D1638.

2. Guild Art Gallery Records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Work
loading