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Photo: Peter Schälchli
P175
Organization No. 2
1936–37
Oil on canvas
28 x 36 in. (71.1 x 91.4 cm)
Front, upper right: GORKY / [paraph]
Reverse not seen
Reverse not seen
Private collection
Provenance
Exhibitions
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Greater Texas and Pan American Exposition, Art of the Americas: Pre-Columbian and Contemporary, June 12–October 31, 1937, no. 46, as Organization No. 2.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, January 5–February 18, 1951, no. 17, p. 46, as "Organization," dated c. 1936. Traveled to: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, March 4–April 22, 1951; San Francisco Museum of Art, California, May 9–July 9, 1951.
Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, Arshile Gorky: A Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, October 6–26, 1952.
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, 33 Paintings by Arshile Gorky, December 2–28, 1957. (Exhibition catalogue: Sidney Janis Gallery 1957), no. 3, ill. in b/w, as "Organization, #2," dated 1935.
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Arshile Gorky: Paintings and Drawings, 1975–77, no. 6, as "Organization II," dated 1936. Traveled to: Southampton Art Gallery, United Kingdom, December 12, 1975–February 22, 1976; Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, United Kingdom, April 3–May 2, 1976; Sunderland Art Gallery, United Kingdom, June 5–August 15, 1976; City Art Gallery, Dundee, United Kingdom, August 21–November 27, 1976; Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, United Kingdom, December 19, 1976–January 16, 1977; Serpentine Gallery, London, March 12–April 11, 1977.
Städtische Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, 2 Jahrzehnte amerikanische Malerei 1920–1940, June 10–August 12, 1979. (Exhibition catalogue: Schmidt 1979a), no. 136, p. 154, as "Organization II". Traveled to: Kunsthaus Zurich, August 23–October 28, 1979.
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Peinture américaine, 1920–1940 / Amerikaanse schilderkunst, 1920–1940, November 10–December 30, 1979. (Exhibition catalogue: Schmidt 1979b), no. 131, p. 149, as "Organization II".
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 101, ill. in b/w, p. 142, as "Organization II". Traveled to: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, September 12–November 6, 1981; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 3, 1981–February 28, 1982.
Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundación Caja de Pensiones, Madrid, Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, October 17–December 23, 1989, no. 14, ill. in color, p. 79, as "Organization II". Traveled to: Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, January 19–March 25, 1990.
Gagosian Gallery, New York, Arshile Gorky: Paintings and Drawings, 1929–1942, October 27, 1998–January 9, 1999, ill. in color, pp. 32–33; p. 94, as Organization No. 2, dated c. 1936–37.
Ca'Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art, Venice, Italy, Arshile Gorky: 1904–1948, May 8–September 22, 2019, ill. in color, p. 103, as "Organisation No. 2".
Literature
"Dallas Scene of Pan-American Exhibition." Art Digest (New York) 11, no. 18 (July 1, 1937), discussed, p. 10, as Organization No. 2.
Coates, Robert M. "The Art Galleries." The New Yorker 33 (December 14, 1957), discussed p. 141, as Organization No. 2.
Late Drawings by Gorky. New York: Sidney Janis Gallery, 1959. Exhibition catalogue (1959b New York), no. 36, ill. in b/w (in situ), as "Organization (detail)" in "Gallery View, Gorky Exhibition, December 1957".
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 53, ill. in b/w, p. 77, as "Organization II," dated 1935.
Karp, Diane. "Arshile Gorky: The Language of Art." Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1982, fig. 69, ill. in b/w, p. 237, as "Organization II".
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 p. 71, as Organization No. 2.
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. 175, ill. in b/w, pp. 320–21, as Organization No. 2.
Herrera, Hayden. "Arshile Gorky at Gagosian." Art in America (New York) 87 (May 1999), discussed p. 152, as Organization No. 2.
Spender, Matthew. From a High Place: A Life of Arshile Gorky. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1999, ill. in b/w, p. 118, as "Organization 2".
Herrera, Hayden. Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003, fig. 22, ill. in color, as Organization No. 2.
Beredjiklian, Alexandre. Arshile Gorky: sept thèmes majeurs. Suresnes, France: Alphamédian & Johanet; Lisbon: Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, 2007. Monograph, discussed p. 35, as "Organisation No. 2".
Notes
Commentary
The painting's lifetime title, Organization No. 2, is that by which it was first shown, in the Dallas Museum of Fine Art's Greater Texas and Pan American Exposition, in 1937.1
1. Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Greater Texas and Pan American Exposition, Art of the Americas: Pre-Columbian and Contemporary, June 12–October 31, 1937. Exhibition catalogue.
After works by other artists: Pablo Picasso
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