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Catalogue Entry
P247
(Garden in Sochi)
c. 1940–41
Oil on canvas
25 1/4 x 29 1/8 in. (64.1 x 74 cm)
Front not inscribed
Reverse not seen
Reverse not seen
Private collection, United States
Provenance
Estate of Arshile Gorky (1948)
[Sidney Janis Gallery, New York (by December 1957)]
[M. Knoedler & Co. Inc., New York (1967)]
Galleria Galatea, Turin, Italy (January 18, 1971)
Private collection (February 1971)
Private collection, by descent (by 2020)
[Sotheby's, London, Modern Renaissance: A Cross-Category Sale, March 25, 2021, lot 104]
Acquavella Galleries Inc., New York (March 25, 2021)
Private collection, United States (November 2021)
Exhibitions
1951a New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, January 5–February 18, 1951, no. 25, p. 46, as "Garden in Sochi," dated c. 1940. Traveled to: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, March 4–April 22, 1951; San Francisco Museum of Art, California, May 9–July 9, 1951.1952 Princeton
Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, Arshile Gorky: A Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, October 6–26, 1952, no. 7, as "Garden in Sochi," dated c. 1940.1957f New York
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, 33 Paintings by Arshile Gorky, December 2–28, 1957. (Exhibition catalogue: Sidney Janis Gallery 1957), no. 6, ill. in b/w, as "Garden in Sochi," dated 1940.1962 Venice
XXXI Biennale di Venezia: Internazionale d'Arte, U.S. Pavillion, Venice, Italy, Arshile Gorky, June 16–October 7, 1962, no. 8, p. 113, as "Giardino a Sochi," dated c. 1940.1962–63b New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, December 19, 1962–February 12, 1963. (Exhibition catalogue: Seitz 1962), no. 40, ill. in b/w, p. 26; p. 54, as "Garden in Sochi". Traveled to: Washington Gallery of Modern Art, D.C., March 12–April 14, 1963.1965 AC–Brussels and Rotterdam
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Arshile Gorky, Paintings and Drawings / Arshile Gorky: Schilderijen en Tekeningen, 1965, no. 46, ill. in b/w, as "Tuin in Sochi / Garden in Sochi," dated 1940–1942. 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. 39, ill. in b/w, as "Garden in Sochi," dated 1940–42.1967c New York
M. Knoedler & Co. Inc, New York, Space and Dream, December 5–29, 1967, ill. in b/w, p. 51, as "Garden in Sochi" (not exhibited).1969c New York
M. Knoedler & Co. Inc, New York, Gorky, de Kooning, Newman, June 26–September 20, 1969, as "Garden in Sochi," dated 1940–42.1969–70a New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940–1970, October 18, 1969–February 8, 1970. (Exhibition catalogue: Geldzahler 1969), no. 88, as "Garden in Sochi".1972 Turin
Galleria Galatea, Turin, Italy, Arshile Gorky, February 29–March 27, 1972, ill. in color, as "Garden in Sochi," dated 1940–42.2001–02 Lugano
Museo Cantonale d'Arte, Lugano, Switzerland, Da Kandinsky a Pollock: la vertigine della non-forma / From Kandinsky to Pollock: the Vertigo of Non-form, September 29, 2001–January 6, 2002, no. 35, p. 76; ill. in color, p. 77; p. 188, as "Garden in Sochi".2007 Paris
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon (organizers), Arshile Gorky: Hommage, 2007, ill. in color, p. 53, as "Jardin à Sochi / Garden in Sochi". Traveled to: Centre culturel Calouste Gulbenkian, Paris, April 2–June 4, 2007; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, April 2–June 4, 2007.Literature
de Kooning 1951
de Kooning, Elaine. "Gorky: Painter of his Own Legend." Artnews (New York) 49, no. 9 (January 1951), ill. in b/w, p. 40, as "Garden in Sochi".Arti Visive 1957
"Special issue on Gorky in Italian and English with text by Toti Scialoja and excerpts from Schwabacher 1957." Arti Visive 6–7 (Summer 1957), no. 17, ill. in b/w, as "Garden in Sochi".Coates 1957
Coates, Robert M. "The Art Galleries." The New Yorker 33 (December 14, 1957), discussed p. 141, as "Garden in Sochi".Sawin 1957
Sawin, Martica. "Arshile Gorky." Arts Magazine (New York) 32, no. 3 (December 1957), discussed p. 52, as "Garden in Sochi".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. 26, ill. in b/w, p. 69, as "Garden in Sochi," dated c. 1938–41.Ashton 1958a
Ashton, Dore. "Lettre de New York." Arts & Architecture (Los Angeles) 75, no. 1 (January 1958), discussed p. 6, as "Garden in Sochi".Reiff 1961
Reiff, Robert F. "A Stylistic Analysis of Arshile Gorky's Art from 1943–1948." Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, New York, 1961, fig. 14, ill. in b/w, p. 292, as "Garden in Sochi".Rosenberg 1962a
Rosenberg, Harold. Arshile Gorky: The Man, the Time, the Idea. New York: Horizon Press, 1962. Monograph, ill. in b/w, p. 69, as "Garden in Sochi".Rubin 1963
Rubin, William. "Arshile Gorky, Surrealism, and the New American Painting." Art International (Paris) 7, no. 2 (February 25, 1963), ill. in b/w, p. 30, as "Garden in Soichi [sic]," dated 1941.Hoyland 1965
Hoyland, Francis. "The composer." The Listener (London) (April 15, 1965), discussed p. 568, as "Garden in Sochi".Mullins 1965
Mullins, Edwin. "Most Important American." Sunday Telegraph (London), April 11, 1965, discussed, as "Garden in Sochi".Russell 1965
Russell, John. "Getting through to Gorky." The Sunday Times (London), April 11, 1965, discussed, as "Garden of Sochi".Levy 1966
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 79, ill. in color, p. 103, as "Garden in Sochi," dated 1940.Goldwater 1967
Goldwater, Robert. Space and Dream. New York: Walker and Company, 1967, ill. in b/w, p. 51, as "Garden in Sochi".Rubin 1968
Rubin, William S. Dada and Surrealist Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1968, fig. 402, ill. in b/w, p. 389, as "Garden in Sochi I".Geldzahler 1969
Geldzahler, Henry. New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940–1970. New York: E.P. Dutton, in association with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1969. Exhibition catalogue (1969–70a New York), no. 88, ill. in b/w, p. 156; p. 45, as "Garden in Sochi".Sandler 1970
Sandler, Irving H. The Triumph of American Painting: A History of Abstract Expressionism. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970, fig. 3–12, ill. in b/w, p. 54, as "Garden in Sochi II".Ber. 1972
Ber., Mar. "Tenere favole viste da Gorky." La Stampa (Turin, Italy), March 7, 1972, discussed, as "Garden in Sochi".Rathbone 1978
Rathbone, Eliza E. "Arshile Gorky: The Plow and the Song." In American Art at Mid-Century: The Subjects of the Artist. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1978. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 33, ill. in b/w, p. 78, as "Garden in Sochi".Rand 1981
Rand, Harry. Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols. Montclair, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun & Co. Publishers Inc., and London: George Prior Associated Publishers Ltd., 1981. Monograph, fig. 5–4, ill. in b/w, p. 77, as "Garden in Sochi".Karp 1982
Karp, Diane. "Arshile Gorky: The Language of Art." Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1982, fig. 77, ill. in b/w, p. 245, as "Garden in Sochi".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. 75–76, 80–81, as "Garden in Sochi".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. 247, ill. in b/w, pp. 394–95, as "Garden in Sochi".Lader 1985
Lader, Melvin P. Arshile Gorky. New York: Abbeville Press, 1985. Monograph, fig. 58, ill. in b/w, p. 64, as "Garden in Sochi".Rand 1991
Rand, Harry. Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols. Rev. ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991. Monograph, fig. 5–4, ill. in b/w, p. 84, as "Garden in Sochi".Herrera 2003
Herrera, Hayden. Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003, fig. 42, ill. in color, as "Garden in Sochi".Beredjiklian 2007
Beredjiklian, Alexandre. Arshile Gorky: sept thèmes majeurs. Suresnes, France: Alphamédian & Johanet; Lisbon: Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, 2007. Monograph, discussed p. 25, as "Jardin à Sotchi".Cooksey 2009
Cooksey, Chelsea L. "Arshile Gorky: The Abstraction of Symbol, Figure, and Form." M.A. Thesis, Purchase College, State University of New York, 2009, fig. 4, ill. in color, p. 53, as "Garden in Sochi".Notes
Recto, center left [by Agnes Gorky Phillips]: A Gorky
The canvas was relined.
On loan: Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, 1965–1967.
Commentary
The overall composition is closely related to Gorky's painting Garden in Sochi (P248), dated to 1941 by the artist, and in association with which this painting's title derives. The composition is closely referenced in several further known gouaches and paintings (see related work). According to Agnes "Mougouch" Gorky (1921–2013), the painting's central, boot-shaped form is based on the goatskin and sheepskin butter churns used by Kurdish mountain tribes, and familiar to Gorky from his childhood (for more information on the references embedded in the "Garden in Sochi" series, see commentary for P248).1
Although the title is identified as lifetime in Jim M. Jordan's catalogue raisonné, there is no known extant documentation confirming its origin with the artist and we have therefore designated it as posthumous.2
1. Agnes Gorky Fielding, as quoted in Jim M. Jordan, "Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings," in Jim M. Jordan and Robert Goldwater, The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue (New York and London: New York University Press, 1982), 438.
2. Ibid, 394.
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