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Catalogue Entry
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Provenance
The artist
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (December 1937)
Exhibitions
1937d New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, November 10–December 12, 1937, no. 17, as "Painting".1938 Syracuse
Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, New York, Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, December 20, 1937–January 26, 1938.1938 Paris
Musée du Jeu de Paume, Paris (organized in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, New York), Trois siècles d'art aux États-Unis, May 24–July 31, 1938, no. 65, ill. in b/w, fig. 53, as "Composition (Painting)".1940b New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Exhibition Featuring Works from the Permanent Collection, May 1940.1940–41 Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art (organizer), New York, 60 American Paintings from the Whitney Museum, 1940–41, as "Painting," [South Hadley: no 17, as Painting]. Traveled to: Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, New York, November 1–December 2, 1940; Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, January 5–February 9, 1941 (as American Paintings from the Whitney Museum Collection); Detroit Institute of Arts, February 21–March 23, 1941 (as Exhibition of Paintings From the Whitney Museum of American Art); Dwight Art Memorial Building, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, May 17–June 9, 1941 (as Fifty Paintings from the Whitney Museum of American Art).1941c New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Contemporary Painting in the United States: A Special Exhibition, April 19–27, 1941, as "Painting," [not in brochure].1941a MoMA
Museum of Modern Art, New York (organizer), La Pintura Contemporánea Norteamericana, 1941, ill. in b/w, p. 53, as "Painting". Traveled to: Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, June 10–July 4, 1941; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile, September 16–October 5, 1941; Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, November 15–December 7, 1941.1945 Palm Beach
Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida, Exhibition of Russian Paintings, February 16–March 12, 1945, no. 31, as "Painting".1946 Toronto
Art Gallery of Toronto, Contemporary American Paintings & Sculpture (Whitney Museum Collection), October 18–November 22, 1946, as "Painting".1947 Salt Lake City
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (organizer), Centennial Art Museum, Utah Exposition Grounds, Salt Lake City, Utah Centennial Exhibition: 100 Years of American Painting, July 5–31, 1947.1950 Miami
Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida, From the Armory Show to the Present, March 9–31, 1950, no. 14, ill. in b/w, as "Painting".1950 Coral Gables
The Art Gallery, University of Miami, Contemporary American Paintings, April 18–May 3, 1950, no. 24, as "Painting".1951a New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, January 5–February 18, 1951, no. 18, ill. in b/w, p. 21; p. 46, as "Painting". Traveled to: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, March 4–April 22, 1951; San Francisco Museum of Art, California, May 9–July 9, 1951.1953 Syracuse
Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, New York, Abstract Painting in America: A Loan Exhibition, October 14–November 8, 1953, no. 12, ill. in b/w, cover, as "Composition".1962 Venice
XXXI Biennale di Venezia: Internazionale d'Arte, U.S. Pavilion, Venice, Italy, Arshile Gorky, June 16–October 7, 1962, no. 5, p. 113, as "Pittura".1962–63b New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, December 19, 1962–February 12, 1963. (Exhibition catalogue: Seitz 1962), no. 36, ill. in b/w, p. 25; p. 53, as "Painting". Traveled to: Washington Gallery of Modern Art, D.C., March 12–April 14, 1963.1963 Washington, D.C.
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., The New Tradition: Modern Americans Before 1940, April 27–June 2, 1963, no. 43, p. 59, as "Painting".1965 AC–Brussels and Rotterdam
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Arshile Gorky, Paintings and Drawings / Arshile Gorky: Schilderijen en Tekeningen, 1965, no. 43, ill. in b/w, as "Schilderij / Painting". Traveled to: Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, May 22–June 27, 1965; Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, July 24–September 5, 1965 (Museum Boymans van Beuingen 1965).1965 AC–London
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Tate Gallery, Arshile Gorky: Paintings and Drawings, April 2–May 2, 1965, no. 33, ill. in b/w, as "Painting".1968e New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, The 1930's: Painting and Sculpture in America, October 15–December 1, 1968, no. 39, ill. in color, as "Painting".1974b New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, The Twentieth Century: 35 American Artists, An Exhibition of Works from the Permanent Collection, July 1–September 29, 1974, as "Painting".1975–76 Austin
University Art Museum, University of Texas at Austin, Arshile Gorky: Drawings to Paintings, October 12–November 23, 1975. (Exhibition catalogue: University of Texas at Austin 1975), p. 103, as "Painting". Traveled to: San Francisco Museum of Art, December 4, 1975–January 12, 1976; Neuberger Museum, Purchase College, State University of New York, February 10–March 14, 1976; Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, New York, April 4–May 9, 1976.1978–80 Newark
Newark Museum, New Jersey, Murals without Walls: Arshile Gorky's Aviation Murals Rediscovered, November 15, 1978–March 11, 1979. (Exhibition catalogue: O'Connor 1978b), no. 36, as "Painting". Traveled to: Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, New York, July 1–August 26, 1979; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 4–November 25, 1979; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, December 23, 1979–February 3, 1980; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 28–April 20, 1980; Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California, May 10–June 22, 1980; Queens Museum, New York, September 6–November 2, 1980.1981–82 New York
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 102, ill. in b/w, p. 143, as "Painting". Traveled to: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, September 12–November 6, 1981; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 3, 1981–February 28, 1982.1988a New York
Whitney Museum of American Art (organizer), New York, Twentieth-Century American Art: Highlights of the Permanent Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, ill. in b/w, p. 24, as "Painting". Traveled to: Robert Hull Fleming Museum, University of Vermont, Burlington, March 25–May 22, 1988; Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee, June 12–August 7, 1988; Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona, August 26–October 2, 1988.1989b New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Art in Place: Fifteen Years of Acquisitions, July 7–October 29, 1989, ill. in b/w, p. 16, as "Painting" (not exhibited).1992 New York
Whitney Museum of American Art at Equitable Center, New York, American Masters: Six Artists from the Permanent Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, January 10–March 18, 1992, ill. in color, as "Painting". Traveled to: Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion, Stamford, Connecticut, April 17–June 17, 1992.2009–10 Philadelphia
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, October 15, 2009–January 10, 2010. (Exhibition catalogue: Taylor 2009a), pl. 71, ill. in color, p. 227; p. 388, as "Painting". Traveled to: Tate Modern, London, February 10–May 3, 2010 (Gale 2010); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, June 6–September 20, 2010 (Gale 2010).2024–25b Paris
Musée National Picasso-Paris, Jackson Pollock: Les Premières Années (1934–1947), October 15, 2024–January 19, 2025.Literature
News from Whitney Museum of American Art 1937
"Recent Acquisitions by the Whitney Museum of American Art." News from Whitney Museum of American Art (New York) 7 (1937), discussed, as "Painting".Whitney Museum of American Art 1937
Whitney Museum of American Art. "Supplement to the Catalogue of the Collection July, 1937–June, 1942." In Whitney Museum of American Art: History, Purpose and Activities with a Complete List of Works in its Permanent Collection to June, 1937. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1937, p. 47, as "Painting".Jewell 1937c
Jewell, Edward Alden. "American Artists Display Canvases." New York Times, November 11, 1937, discussed p. 23, as "Arshile Gorky's abstract pattern".Jewell 1937d
Jewell, Edward Alden. "French Paintings Put on View Here." New York Times, December 11, 1937, discussed p. 17, as "Painting".Strickland 1938
Strickland, Miriam. "Museum Acquisitions." Parnassus (New York) 10 (March 1938), discussed p. 18, as "Painting".Sweeney 1938
Sweeney, James Johnson. "L'Art Contemporain aux Etats Unis." Cahiers d'Art (Paris) 13 (1938), ill. in b/w, p. 63, as "Painting".Jewell 1940b
Jewell, Edward Alden. "Whitney Museum Shows Collection." New York Times, May 8, 1940, discussed, p. 21, as "Painting".Coates 1951
Coates, Robert M. "The Art Galleries: Moderns—Past and Present." The New Yorker 26, no. 48 (January 20, 1951), discussed p. 62, as "Painting".Goodrich 1951a
Goodrich, Lloyd. "Eight Works by Arshile Gorky with Notes by Lloyd Goodrich." Magazine of Art (Washington, D.C.) 44 (February 1951), ill. in b/w, p. 59, as "Painting".Loftus 1952
Loftus, John. "Arshile Gorky: A Monograph." M.A. Thesis, Columbia University, New York, 1952, pl. XVI, ill. in b/w, as "Painting".Post Standard 1953
"Abstracts on View at Museum." The Post Standard (Syracuse, NY), October 25, 1953, as "Composition".Geist 1956
Geist, Sidney. "Prelude: The 1930's." Arts Magazine (New York) 30 (September 1956), ill. in b/w, p. 54, as "Painting".Schwabacher 1957
Schwabacher, Ethel. Arshile Gorky. Introduction by Meyer Schapiro. New York: The Macmillan Company for the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1957. Monograph, fig. 20, ill. in b/w, p. 58, as "Painting".Whitney Museum of American Art 1960
Whitney Museum of American Art. Whitney Museum of American Art: Catalogue of the Collection. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1960, discussed p. 278, as "Painting".Boatto 1962
Boatto, Alberto. "L'itinerario di Gorky." Arte Oggi (Rome) 14 (June–December 1962), discussed p. 12, as "Pittura".Geist 1962
Geist, Sidney. "Gorky/Rosenberg: Two Reviews." Anita Ventura and Sidney Geist, eds. Review of Arshile Gorky: The Man, the Time, the Idea, by Harold Rosenberg. Scrap (New York) 8 (June 14, 1962), ill. in b/w, p. 3, as "Painting".Rosenberg 1962a
Rosenberg, Harold. Arshile Gorky: The Man, the Time, the Idea. New York: Horizon Press, 1962. Monograph, ill. in b/w, p. 63, as "Painting".Levy 1966
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 69, ill. in b/w, p. 93, as "Painting".Rosenberg 1972a
Rosenberg, Harold. The De-definition of Art: Action Art to Pop to Earthworks. New York: Horizon Press, 1972, discussed p. 186.Larson 1974
Larson, Philip. "De Kooning's Drawings." In De Kooning: drawings/sculptures, by Philip Larson and Peter Schjeldahl. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1974. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 8, ill. in b/w (upside down), as "Painting".Frankenstein 1975
Frankenstein, Alfred. "The Way Was Long for The Immigrant Gorky." San Francisco Examiner, December 21, 1975, ill. in b/w, p. 29, as "Composition".Reiff 1976
Reiff, Robert. "Arshile Gorky's Object Matter." Arts Magazine (New York) 50, no. 7 (March 1976), discussed p. 91, as "Painting".Jordan 1981
Jordan, Jim M. "Gorky at the Guggenheim." Art Journal (New York) 41, no. 3 (Fall 1981), discussed p. 262, as "Painting".Karp 1982
Karp, Diane. "Arshile Gorky: The Language of Art." Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1982, fig. 68, ill. in b/w (repr. 90 degrees counterclockwise), p. 236, as "Painting".Jordan 1982a
Jordan, Jim M. "The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: New Discoveries, New Sources, and Chronology." In The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue, by Jim M. Jordan and Robert Goldwater. New York and London: New York University Press, 1982, discussed pp. 69, 71, 73, as "Painting".Jordan 1982b
Jordan, Jim M. "Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings." In The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue, by Jim M. Jordan and Robert Goldwater. New York and London: New York University Press, 1982, no. 173, ill. in b/w, pp. 317–18, as "Painting".Lader 1985
Lader, Melvin P. Arshile Gorky. New York: Abbeville Press, 1985. Monograph, fig. 43, ill. in color, p. 50, as "Painting".Herrera 2003
Herrera, Hayden. Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003, fig. 20, ill. in color, as "Painting".Beredjiklian 2007
Beredjiklian, Alexandre. Arshile Gorky: sept thèmes majeurs. Suresnes, France: Alphamédian & Johanet; Lisbon: Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, 2007. Monograph, discussed pp. 35, 49, as "Peinture".Mattison 2009
Matttison, Robert S. Arshile Gorky: Works and Writings. Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafica, 2009. Monograph, ill. in color, p. 53, as "Painting".Gale 2010
Gale, Matthew. Arshile Gorky: Enigma and Nostalgia. London: Tate Publishing, 2010. Exhibition catalogue (2009–10 Philadelphia), no. 3, ill. in color, p. 17, as "Painting".Notes
After works by other artists: Pablo Picasso
Additional Material
Related Correspondence: Telegram from Gorky to his sister Vartoosh and her husband Moorad, December 13, 1937: "DARLINGS– WHITNEY MUSEUM PURCHASED ONE OF MY PAINTINGS FOR / 650 DOLLARS WILL WRITE VERY SOON LOVE= / GOUKY." Arshile Gorky/Mooradian Archive, Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, New York.
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