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Arshile Gorky Catalogue Raisonné

Catalogue Entry

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Photo: © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY
P300
Diary of a Seducer
1945
Oil on canvas
50 x 62 in. (127 x 157.5 cm)
Front, lower left: A Gorky / [paraph] / 45
Reverse not seen
The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William A. M. Burden. (340.1985)
Provenance
The artist
Julien Levy Gallery, New York (November 1945)
Julien Levy, Bridgewater, Connecticut (1949)
[Samuel Kootz Gallery, New York (March 21, 1950)]
Margaret and William A. M. Burden, New York (1951)
Museum of Modern Art, New York, by gift (1985)
Exhibitions
1945–46b New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, November 27, 1945–January 10, 1946, no. 51, as "Journal d'un Seducteur".
1946b New York
Julien Levy Gallery, New York, Arshile Gorky: Paintings: 1946, April 9–May 4, 1946, no. 12, as Diary of a Seducer, [typed addition to checklist].
1946c New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Fourteen Americans, September 10–December 8, 1946. (Exhibition catalogue: Miller, D. 1946), no. 37, p. 77; ill. in b/w, p. 23, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
1947 CE–MoMA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Department of Circulating Exhibitions (organizer), Fourteen Americans, 1947, no. 17, as "The Diary of a Seducer". Traveled to: Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, January 5–26, 1947; Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida, February 7–March 10, 1947; Cincinnati Modern Art Society, March 20–April 17, 1947; San Francisco Museum of Art, May 6–June 1, 1947; Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, June 15–30, 1947; Indiana University Art Center Gallery, Bloomington, October 11–18, 1947.
1950a New York
Kootz Gallery, New York, Selected Paintings by the Late Arshile Gorky, March 28–April 24, 1950. (Exhibition brochure: Gottlieb 1950), ill. in b/w, cover, as Diary of a Seducer.
1950 Richmond
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, American Painting 1950, April 22–June 4, 1950, as Diary of a Seducer.
1951a New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, January 5–February 18, 1951, no. 37, ill. in b/w, p. 36; p. 47, as Diary of a Seducer. Traveled to: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, March 4–April 22, 1951; San Francisco Museum of Art, California, May 9–July 9, 1951.
1953–54 Paris
Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 12 peintres et sculpteurs américains contemporains, April 24–June 7, 1953, no. 10, as "Journal du Séducteur". Traveled to: Kunsthaus Zurich, July 25–August 30, 1953; Kunstsammlungen der Stadt Düsseldorf, September 20–October 25, 1953; Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, November 24–December 20, 1953; Taidehalli-Konsthallen, Helsinki, January 8–24, 1954; Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, February 18–March 7, 1954.
1955b New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Paintings from Private Collections, May 31–September 7, 1955, p. 11, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
1958–59 IC–MoMA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, International Council (organizer), The New American Painting: As Shown in Eight European Countries, 1958–59, as Diary of a Seducer, [Basel: no. 15; Madrid: no. 15; Amsterdam: no. 15; Brussels: no. 15; Paris: no. 14; London: no. 14; New York: no. 14]. Traveled to: Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, April 19–May 26, 1958 (as Die neue amerikanische Malerei); Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Milan, June 1–30, 1958 (as La Nuova Pittura Americana); Museum Nacional de Art Contemporaneo, Madrid, July 16–August 11, 1958 (as La Nueva Pintura Americana); Hochschule für Bildende Kunste, Berlin, September 1–October 1, 1958 (as Die neue amerikanische Malerei); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, October 17–November 24, 1958 (as Jong Amerika schildert); Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, Brussels, December 6, 1958–January 4, 1959 (as La nouvelle peinture américaine); Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, January 16–February 15, 1959 (as Jackson Pollock et la nouvelle peinture américaine); Tate Gallery, London, February 24–March 22, 1959; Museum of Modern Art, New York, May 28–September 8, 1959.
1962 Venice
XXXI Biennale di Venezia: Internazionale d'Arte, U.S. Pavillion, Venice, Italy, Arshile Gorky, June 16–October 7, 1962, no. 16, p. 114, as "Diario di un seduttore".
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. 73, ill. in b/w, p. 2; p. 54, as "The Diary of a Seducer". Traveled to: Washington Gallery of Modern Art, D.C., March 12–April 14, 1963.
1965 AC–London
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Tate Gallery, Arshile Gorky: Paintings and Drawings, April 2–May 2, 1965, no. 66, ill. in b/w, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
1966a New York
Public Education Association, New York (organizer), Seven Decades, 1895–1965: Crosscurrents in Modern Art, April 16–May 21, 1966, no. 216, ill. in b/w, p. 119, as Diary of a Seducer.
1968 CE–MoMA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Department of Circulating Exhibitions (organizer), Dada, Surrealism, and Their Heritage, 1968. (Exhibition catalogue: Rubin 1967), no. 139, ill. in b/w, fig. 271, p. 175, as "The Diary of a Seducer," [exhibited in New York and Chicago only]. Traveled to: Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 27–June 9, 1968; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, July 16–September 8, 1968; Art Institute of Chicago, October 19–December 8, 1968.
1969b New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York, The New American Painting and Sculpture: The First Generation, June 18–October 5, 1969, no. 21, as Diary of a Seducer.
1977 Albany
New York State Museum, Albany, New York: The State of Art, October 8–November 27, 1977, no. 516, as Diary of a Seducer, lent by William A.M. Burden.
1981–82 New York
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 186, ill. in color, p. 211, as Diary of a Seducer. Traveled to: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, September 12–November 6, 1981; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 3, 1981–February 28, 1982.
2007 Paris
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon (organizers), Arshile Gorky: Hommage, 2007, ill. in color, pp. 66–67, as "Journal d'un séducteur / The Diary of a Seducer". Traveled to: Centre culturel Calouste Gulbenkian, Paris, April 2–June 4, 2007; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, April 2–June 4, 2007.
2008–09a New York
Jewish Museum, New York, Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940–1976, May 4–September 21, 2008, ill. in color, pl. 8, as Diary of a Seducer. Traveled to: Saint Louis Art Museum, October 19, 2008–January 11, 2009; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, February 13–May 31, 2009.
2009–10 Philadelphia
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, October 15, 2009–January 10, 2010. (Exhibition catalogue: Taylor 2009a), pl. 126, ill. in color, p. 287; p. 391, as Diary of a Seducer. 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).
2010–11a New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Abstract Expressionist New York, October 3, 2010–April 25, 2011, no. 11, ill. in color, p. 35, as Diary of a Seducer.
2016–17 London
Royal Academy of Arts, London, Abstract Expressionism, September 24, 2016–January 2, 2017. (Exhibition catalogue: Devaney and Wurst 2016), no. 19, ill. in color, p. 151, as Diary of a Seducer. Traveled to: Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, February 3–June 4, 2017.
Literature
Sunley 1946
Sunley, Robert. "Fourteen American Artists." Critique (New York) 1 (October 1946), discussed p. 21, as Diary of a Seducer.
Chanin 1950
Chanin, A.L. "The World of Art: Avant-Garde Artist." The Sunday Compass (New York), April 2, 1950, discussed, as Diary of a Seducer.
Hess 1950
T.B.H. [Thomas B. Hess]. "Reviews and Previews." Artnews (New York) 49 (April 1950), ill. in b/w, p. 45, as Diary of a Seducer.
Richmond Times-Dispatch 1950
"Mr. Sweeney—a Macabre Humorist?" Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA), April 23, 1950, discussed p. 20, as Diary of a Seducer.
Greenberg 1950a
Greenberg, Clement. "Art Chronicle." Partisan Review (New York) 17, no. 5 (May–June 1950), discussed p. 513, as Diary of a Seducer.
Louchheim 1950a
Louchheim, Aline B. "One Man Picks and Defends Biennial." New York Times, April 30, 1950, discussed, sec. 2, p. 8, as Diary of a Seducer.
Devree 1950b
Devree, Howard. "By Contemporaries." New York Times, April 2, 1950, discussed, sec. 2, p. 8, as Diary of a Seducer.
Ballard 1951
Ballard, Louis. "Art." Arts & Architecture (Los Angeles) 68 (May 1951), discussed p. 11, as Diary of a Seducer.
Coates 1951
Coates, Robert M. "The Art Galleries." The New Yorker 26, no. 48 (January 20, 1951), discussed p. 62, as Diary of a Seducer.
Curl 1951
Curl, Huldah. "Arshile Gorky: Memorial Exhibition." Notes and Comments from the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis) 5 (March 1951), discussed p. 2, as Diary of a Seducer.
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. 65, as Diary of a Seducer.
Genauer 1951
Genauer, Emily. "Art and Artists: The Whitney's Memorial Exhibit and the Arshile Gorky Tragedy." New York Herald Tribune, January 7, 1951, discussed p. 9, as Diary of a Seducer.
Hess 1951
Hess, Thomas B. Abstract Painting: Background and American Phase. New York: Viking Press, 1951, fig. 69, ill. in b/w, p. 109, as Diary of a Seducer.
Polley 1951
Polley, E.M. "Art and Artists: Memorial Exhibition." Vallejo Times-Herald (Vallejo, CA), May 27, 1951, discussed, p. 22, as Diary of a Seducer.
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. 61, as Diary of a Seducer.
Loftus 1952
Loftus, John. "Arshile Gorky: A Monograph." M.A. Thesis, Columbia University, New York, 1952, pl. XXXIV, ill. in b/w, as Diary of a Seducer.
Greenberg 1955
Greenberg, Clement. "'American-Type' Painting." Partisan Review (New York) 22, no. 2 (Spring 1955), discussed p. 188, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Mooradian 1955
Mooradian, Karlen. "Arshile Gorky." Armenian Review (Watertown, MA) 8, no. 2 (Summer 1955), discussed p. 57, as Diary of a Seducer.
Schapiro 1957
Schapiro, Meyer. "Gorky: The Creative Influence." Artnews (New York) 56, no. 5 (September 1957), discussed p. 51, as Diary of a Seducer.
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. 57, ill. in b/w, p. 127, as Diary of a Seducer.
Sidney Janis Gallery 1957
33 Paintings by Arshile Gorky. New York: Sidney Janis Gallery, 1957. Exhibition catalogue (1957f New York), no. 22, ill. in b/w, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Borgese 1958
Borgese, Leonardo. "Alla Galleria d'Arte Moderna: Candore e Conformismo della 'Nuova Pittura Americana.'" Corriere Della Sera (Milan), June 8, 1958, discussed p. 3, as "Diario di un seduttore".
Rudikoff 1958a
Rudikoff, Sonya. "Gorky and Tomlin." Review of Arshile Gorky, by Ethel Schwabacher. Partisan Review (New York) 25, no. 1 (Winter 1958), discussed p. 160, as Diary of a Seducer.
Crehan 1959
Crehan, Hubert. "Arshile Gorky." Artnews (New York) 58, no. 6 (October 1959), discussed p. 12, as Diary of a Seducer.
Alloway 1959a
Alloway, Lawrence. "The New American Painting." Art International (Paris) 3, nos. 3–4 (1959), ill. in b/w, p. 24, as Diary of a Seducer.
Rosenberg 1960
Rosenberg, Harold. "Arshile Gorky: The Last Move." The Hudson Review (New York) 13 (Spring 1960), discussed p. 106, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
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. 27, ill. in b/w, p. 305, as Diary of a Seducer.
Rosenberg 1961
Rosenberg, Harold. "Arshile Gorky, His Art and His Influence." Portfolio & Artnews Annual (New York), no. 5 (1961), ill. in b/w, p. 110, as Diary of a Seducer.
Boatto 1962
Boatto, Alberto. "L'itinerario di Gorky." Arte Oggi (Rome) 14 (June–December 1962), discussed p. 11, as "Diario di un seduttore".
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), discussed p. 3, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Goldwater 1962
Goldwater, Robert. "The Genius of the Moujik." Review of Arshile Gorky: The Man, the Time, the Idea, by Harold Rosenberg. Saturday Review (New York) 45 (May 19, 1962), discussed p. 38, as Diary of a Seducer.
Goodman 1962
Goodman, Paul. "Portrait of the Artist." Review of Arshile Gorky: The Man, the Time, the Idea, by Harold Rosenberg. Partisan Review (New York) 29, no. 3 (Summer 1962), discussed p. 449, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Leider 1962
Leider, Philip. "Books." Review of Arshile Gorky: The Man, the Time, the Idea, by Harold Rosenberg. Artforum (San Francisco) 1, no. 2 (July 1962), discussed, p. 47, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Rosenberg 1962a
Rosenberg, Harold. Arshile Gorky: The Man, the Time, the Idea. New York: Horizon Press, 1962. Monograph, ill. in b/w, p. 99, as Diary of a Seducer.
Rosenberg 1962b
Rosenberg, Harold. "Gorky and History: An Exchange." Partisan Review (New York) 29, no. 4 (Fall 1962), discussed p. 591, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Rosenberg 1963
Rosenberg, Harold. "The Art Galleries: Art and Identity: The Unfinished Masterpiece." The New Yorker 38, no. 46 (January 5, 1963), discussed p. 77, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
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. 35, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Reiff 1963a
Reiff, Robert. "The Late Works of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Estimate." Art Journal (New York) 22, no. 3 (Spring 1963), discussed p. 149, as Diary of a Seducer.
Schulze 1963a
Schulze, Franz. "On Modern American Painting." Apollo (London) 78 (October 1963), fig. 3, ill. in b/w, p. 276, as Diary of a Seducer.
Ashton 1963b
Ashton, Dore. "New York." Das Kunstwerk (Stuttgart, Germany) 16, no. 10 (April 1963), discussed p. 31, as Diary of a Seducer.
Rosenberg 1964
Rosenberg, Harold. "Arshile Gorky: Art and Identity." In The Anxious Object: Art Today and its Audience. New York: Horizon Press, 1964, discussed, p. 106, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Leider 1965
Leider, Philip. "The New York School in Los Angeles." Artforum (Los Angeles) 4 (September 1965), discussed p. 8, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Museum Boymans van Beuingen 1965
Arshile Gorky: Schilderijen en Tekeningen. Rotterdam: Museum Boymans van Beuingen, 1965. Exhibition catalogue (1965 AC–Brussels and Rotterdam), ill. in b/w, as "Het dagboek van een verleider".
Página Central 1965
"Obras do pinter norte-americano Arshile Gorky." Página Central (Lisbon), 1965, ill. in b/w, as Diary of a Seducer.
Roberts 1965
Roberts, Keith. "Major Retrospective at the Tate." The Burlington Magazine (London) 107, no. 746 (May 1965), discussed p. 271, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Russell 1965
Russell, John. "Getting through to Gorky." The Sunday Times (London), April 11, 1965, discussed, as Diary of a Seducer.
Levy 1966
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 135, ill. in color, p. 159, as Diary of a Seducer.
Rubin 1967
Rubin, William. Dada, Surrealism, and Their Heritage. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1967. Exhibition catalogue (1968 CE–MoMA), no. 139, ill. in b/w, p. 175, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Passeron 1968
Passeron, René. Histoire de la peinture surréaliste. Paris: Librairie Le Livre de Poche, 1968, discussed p. 245, as "Journal d'un Seducteur".
Rubin 1968
Rubin, William S. Dada and Surrealist Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1968, fig. 411, ill. in b/w, p. 392, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Sandler 1970
Sandler, Irving H. The Triumph of American Painting: A History of Abstract Expressionism. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970, fig. 3–15, ill. in b/w, p. 57, as Diary of a Seducer.
Castagnoli 1971
Castagnoli, Pier Giovanni. "Arte 'per il popolo' e solitudine dell'uomo. De Kooning e Gorky alla ricerca del 'capolavoro.'" Il Mulino (Bologna) 20, no. 215 (May–June 1971), discussed p. 538, as "Diario di un seduttore".
Jordan 1981
Jordan, Jim M. "Gorky at the Guggenheim." Art Journal (New York) 41, no. 3 (Fall 1981), discussed p. 263, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
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. 57, as Diary of a Seducer.
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 p. 87, as Diary of a Seducer.
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. 300, ill. in b/w (repr. 90 degrees counterclockwise), pp. 460–62, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Seitz 1983
Seitz, William C. Abstract Expressionist Painting in America. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press for the National Gallery of Art, 1983, fig. 75, ill. in b/w, as Diary of a Seducer.
Lader 1985
Lader, Melvin P. Arshile Gorky. New York: Abbeville Press, 1985. Monograph, fig. 94, ill. in color, pp. 94–95, as "The Diary of a Seducer".
Burlington Magazine 1986
"Twentieth-Century Works of Art Recently Acquired by Three New York Museums: The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Museum of Modern Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum." The Burlington Magazine (London) 128, no. 1000 (July 1986), fig. 95, ill. in b/w, p. 538, as Diary of a Seducer.
MoMA 1986
"The Museum Announces Receipt of Major Gift from the Estate of William A.M. Burden." MoMA (New York) 38 (Winter 1986), ill. in b/w, p. 8, as Diary of a Seducer.
Anfam 1990a
Anfam, David. Abstract Expressionism. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1990, discussed p. 118, as Diary of a Seducer.
Balakian 1996
Balakian, Peter. "Arshile Gorky and the Armenian Genocide." Art in America (New York) 84 (February 1996), discussed p. 109, as Diary of a Seducer.
Matossian 1998b
Matossian, Nouritza. Black Angel: The Life of Arshile Gorky. London: Chatto & Windus, 1998, pl. 11, ill. in color, as Diary of a Seducer.
Spender 1999
Spender, Matthew. From a High Place: A Life of Arshile Gorky. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1999, ill. in b/w, p. 295, as Diary of a Seducer.
Herrera 2003
Herrera, Hayden. Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003, fig. 131, ill. in b/w, as Diary of a Seducer.
Beredjiklian 2007
Beredjiklian, Alexandre. Arshile Gorky: sept thèmes majeurs. Suresnes, France: Alphamédian & Johanet; Lisbon: Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, 2007. Monograph, discussed pp. 30, 72, as "Journal d'un Seducteur".
Avakian 2008
Avakian, Florence. "As Arshile Gorky's Prestige Grows, His Armenian Experience Must Not Be Forgotten." The Armenian Reporter (New York), July 5 2008, discussed, as Diary of a Seducer.
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. 40, ill. in color, p. 74, as Diary of a Seducer.
Mattison 2009
Matttison, Robert S. Arshile Gorky: Works and Writings. Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafica, 2009. Monograph, ill. in color, p. 104, as Diary of a Seducer.
Theriault 2009a
Theriault, Kim S. Rethinking Arshile Gorky. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2009. Monograph, fig. 45, ill. in b/w, p. 148, as Diary of a Seducer.
Anfam 2010
Anfam, David. "Metamorphoses." In Arshile Gorky: Virginia Summer 1946. London: Gagosian Gallery, 2010. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 2, ill. in color, p. 7, as Diary of a Seducer.
Harvey 2010
Harvey, Doug. "Gorky's Debt: The Genealogy of an Action Pioneer." Los Angeles Weekly, July 8, 2010, discussed, as Diary of a Seducer.
Robbins 2012
Robbins, Christa Noel. "Harold Rosenberg on the Character of Action." Oxford Art Journal (U.K.) 35, no. 2 (2012), fig. 6, ill. in color, p. 212; discussed pp. 209, 211–13, as Diary of a Seducer.
Tobin 2012
Tobin, Richard. "Agnes Martin: Before the Grid." In Agnes Martin: Before the Grid, by Tiffany Bell, et al. Taos, NM: The Harwood Museum of Art of the University of New Mexico, 2012. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 10, ill. in color, p. 22, as Diary of a Seducer.
Devaney 2017
Devaney, Edith. "Repossessing Nature." In Ardent Nature: Arshile Gorky Landscapes, 1943–47. Zurich: Hauser & Wirth Publishers, 2017. Exhibition catalogue, ill. in color, p. 19, as Diary of a Seducer.
Balkan 2021
Balkan, Debra Bricker. Harold Rosenberg: A Critic's Life. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2021, discussed pp. 361–63; fig. 27, ill. in b/w, p. 361, as Diary of a Seducer.
Robbins 2021
Robbins, Christa Noel. Artist as Author: Action and Intent in Late-Modernist American Painting. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2021, fig. 1.5, ill. in b/w, p. 36; discussed pp. 34, 37–38, as Diary of a Seducer.
Notes
The painting is inscribed in black paint with flourishes in white paint.

Commentary

The painting's title, which first appeared in French in 1945, was suggested to Gorky by Max Ernst (1891–1976) and is taken from the first volume of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard's book Either/Or (1843).1

In her 1951 article "Gorky: Painter of His Own Legend," Elaine de Kooning (1918–1989) writes that the painting was informed by Gorky's print of Jacques-Louis David's (1748–1825) 1824 painting Mars Being Disarmed by Venus (Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels), with Gorky's composition "built around the long torso of [David's] reclining female nude."2 According to Gorky's first biographer Ethel Kremer Schwabacher (1903–1984), another reference includes Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ (1780–1867) Odalisque in Grisaille, c. 1824–34 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), which she recalled Gorky intently studying at the Metropolitan. For Schwabacher, Ingres' painting is reflected in Gorky's palette: "Though in Ingres' time such a grisaille was considered as only a preparatory study for a full-colored painting, it had seemed to Gorky a finished work, to which it was not necessary to add color."3 In 1962, the art critic Harold Rosenberg (1906–1978), who had been friends with Gorky since 1935, contrariwise claimed: "To me Gorky confided that the painting was of a landscape in Virginia."4

1. The title appeared as "Journal d'un Seducteur" in the Whitney Museum of American Art's Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, November 27, 1945–January 10, 1946. Exhibition catalogue.

Agnes Gorky Fielding, interview by Matthew Spender, July 3, 1992, transcript, Matthew Spender Papers, AGF Archives; Hayden Herrera, Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003), 487. See also: Julien Levy, Arshile Gorky (New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1966), 35; 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), 462, fn. 1.

2. Elaine de Kooning, "Gorky: Gorky: Painter of His Own Legend," ARTnews 49, no. 9 (January 1951): 65.

3. Ethel K. Schwabacher, Arshile Gorky (New York: Macmillan Company for the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1957), 126.

4. Harold Rosenberg, Arshile Gorky: The Man, The Time, The Idea (New York: Horizon Press, 1962), 114.