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Arshile Gorky Catalogue Raisonné

Catalogue Entry

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Photo: © Yale University Art Gallery

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D0175b
[Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia: Objects]
c. 1931–32
Ink and graphite pencil on paper
22 11/16 x 28 7/8 in. (57.6 x 73.3 cm)
Not inscribed
Yale University Art Gallery.
Gift of Collection Société Anonyme (1941.487)
Provenance
The artist
[Guild Art Gallery, New York (by December 1935)]
Katherine S. Dreier, New York (January 5, 1936)
Société Anonyme Inc., New York, by transfer (1936)
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, by gift (January 1, 1941)
Exhibitions
1969 College Park
J. Millard Tawes Fine Arts Center, University of Maryland Art Department and Art Gallery, College Park, The Drawings of Arshile Gorky, March 20–April 27, 1969. (Exhibition catalogue: Joyner 1969), no. 4 (Drawings, Sketches, Gouaches), p. 53, as "Forms".
Literature
Herbert et al 1984
Herbert, Robert L., Eleanor S. Apter, and Elise K. Kenney, eds. The Société Anonyme and the Dreier Bequest at Yale University: A Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984, no. 308, ill. in b/w, p. 306, as "Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia".
Corrin 1990
Corrin, Lisa. "Toward Armenia: Notes of a Journey." In Arshile Gorky: 1904–1948. London: Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1990. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 1, ill. in b/w, p. 170, as "Forms".
Notes
Watermark / Stamp: Strathmore
Strathmore paper with blindstamp, lower left: STRATHMORE / [thistle] / USE EITHER SIDE
In pencil, upper left [not in artist's hand]: 1941.487 [upside down]

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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