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Catalogue Entry
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Provenance
The artist
William and Lisa Muschenheim, New York (possibly by 1935)
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York (February 14, 1962)
[Everett Ellin Gallery, Los Angeles (March 16, 1962)]
[M. Knoedler & Co. Inc., New York (by January 1975)]
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York (by April 1977)
Mark Kelman, New York (October 14, 1982)
[Sigrid Freundorfer Fine Art, New York (1984)]
Françoise and Harvey Rambach, Locust, New Jersey (January 24, 1985) . . .
Robert Lehrman, Washington, D.C. (after January 1998) . . .
[Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe / New York (1999)]
James Goodman Gallery, New York (2000)
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (April 28, 2000)
Exhibitions
1935–36a New York likely
Guild Art Gallery, New York, Abstract Drawings by Arshile Gorky, December 16, 1935–January 5, 1936, no. 15, as "Enigmatic Triptych," n.d. lent by Wm. [William] Muschenheim.1962a Los Angeles
Everett Ellin Gallery, Los Angeles, Arshile Gorky: Forty Drawings from the Period 1929 thru 1947, April 9–May 5, 1962, no. 2, ill. in b/w, as "Enigma," dated c. 1930.1966 Austin
University Art Museum, University of Texas at Austin, Drawings & An Exhibition at The University Art Museum of The University of Texas, February 6–March 15, 1966, p. 18, as "Enigma".1975a New York
M. Knoedler & Co. Inc, New York, Arshile Gorky: Works on Paper, January 9–February 1, 1975, no. 1, as "Enigma".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), ill. in b/w, p. 38; p. 104, as "Study for Enigma," dated c. 1932. 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, 1976.1977 Providence
Bell Gallery, List Art Building, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, Graham, Gorky, Smith, & Davis in the Thirties, April 30–May 22, 1977, no. 8, ill. in b/w, p. 14, as "Study for Enigma".1981–82 New York
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 46, ill. in b/w, p. 100, as "Study for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia". Traveled to: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, September 12–November 6, 1981; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 3, 1981–February 28, 1982.1995 Boca Raton
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, Masterpieces of American Modernism: Selections from the Harvey and Françoise Rambach Collection, March 10–April 23, 1995, ill. in b/w, pp. 40–41, as "Study for Enigma".1996 Roslyn Harbor
Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York, American Vanguards, January 21–April 28, 1996, ill. in b/w, p. 82, as "Study for Enigma".1997–98 Boca Raton
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, Surrealism and American Art, 1932–1949, November 20, 1997–January 11, 1998, no. 14, ill. in b/w, p. 31, as "Study for Enigma," 1932, Collection of Harvey and Françoise Rambach.1999d New York
Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, New York Collects: Drawings and Watercolors, 1900–1950, May 20–August 29, 1999, no. 121, ill. in color, p. 273, as "Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia".1999e New York
Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, American Modernism: The François & Harvey Rambach Collection, September 30–November 20, 1999, pp. 279–80; ill. in color, p. 131, as "Study for Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia".2005a New York
National Academy of Design, New York, Surrealism USA, February 17–May 8, 2005, no. 12, ill. in color, as "Study for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia". Traveled to: Phoenix Art Museum, June 5–September 25, 2005.2009–10 Philadelphia
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, October 15, 2009–January 10, 2010. (Exhibition catalogue: Taylor 2009a), pl. 45, ill. in color, p. 201; p. 387, as "Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia". 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).Literature
Seldis 1962b
Seldis, Henry J. "In the Galleries: Show Traces Gorky's Stylistic Development." Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1962, ill. in b/w, p. 5, as "Enigma".Bremer 1975
Bremer, Nina. "Arshile Gorky: Works on Paper." Pantheon (Munich) 33 (July–August 1975), discussed, p. 277, as "Enigma," dated c. 1930.Waldman 1981
Waldman, Diane. "Arshile Gorky: Poet in Paint." In Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in collaboration with The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1981. Exhibition catalogue, discussed p. 31.Karp 1982
Karp, Diane. "Arshile Gorky: The Language of Art." Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1982, fig. 37, ill. in b/w, p. 205, as "Study for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia".Schwan 1997
Schwan, Gary. "Surrealism's shock wears off, but quirky art a delight." The Palm Beach Post (Palm Beach, FL), November 30, 1997, discussed, p. 2J, as "study for the painting Enigma," dated 1932.Gazette des Beaux-Arts 2001
"La Chronique des Arts: Principales Acquisitions des Musées en 2000: États-Unis." Gazette des Beaux-Arts (Paris) 137 (March 2001), no. 246, ill. in b/w, p. 61, as "Étude pour La nuit, énigme et nostalgie".Nilsen 2005
Nilsen, Richard. "America, the Surreal." Arizona Republic (Phoenix), June 5, 2005, ill. in b/w, p. E2, as "Study for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia".Notes
Watermark / Stamp: Strathmore
![[Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia: Fish and Head], c. 1932, D0187. Giorgio de Chirico, The Fatal Temple, 1914, oil on canvas, 13 1/8 x 16 1/8 inches (33.3 x 41 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art; A. E. Gallatin Collection, 1947 (1947-88-14).](https://cdn.panopticoncr.com/arshgor001/catalogue_images/supp_sm/lphwwwro/de%20Chirico_The%20Fatal%20Temple.jpg)
Giorgio de Chirico, The Fatal Temple, 1914, oil on canvas, 13 1/8 x 16 1/8 inches (33.3 x 41 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art; A. E. Gallatin Collection, 1947 (1947-88-14).
Photo: © 2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome
After works by other artists: Giorgio de Chirico
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