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Arshile Gorky Catalogue Raisonné

Catalogue Entry

P306
Charred Beloved No. 2
1946
Oil on canvas
54 1/16 x 40 in. (137.3 x 101.6 cm)
Front, lower left: A. Gorky / 46.
Reverse not inscribed
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (16690)
Provenance
The artist
Julien Levy Gallery, New York (February 1946)
Julien Levy, Bridgewater, Connecticut (1949)
Estate of Arshile Gorky, by transfer (March 1950)
[Sidney Janis Gallery, New York (after October 16, 1952)]
Martha Jackson, New York (by March 1953)
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York (likely April 1953)
Michel Tapié, Turin, Italy (by June 1962) . . .
Carlo Frua de Angeli, Milan (by 1969)
Estate of Carlo Frua de Angeli (1969)
[Alberto Ulrich, Milan (by 1970)]
M. Knoedler & Co. Inc., New York (April 28, 1970)
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (February 19, 1971)
Exhibitions
1946b New York
Julien Levy Gallery, New York, Arshile Gorky: Paintings: 1946, April 9–May 4, 1946, no. 2, as Charred Beloved No. 2.
1950 Venice
XXV Biennale di Venezia, U.S. Pavillion, Venice, Italy, Gorky, Pollock, de Kooning, June 3–October 15, 1950, no. 73, p. 394, as "L'amato carbonizzato N. 2".
1951a New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, January 5–February 18, 1951, no. 43, p. 47, as "Charred Beloved II". 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. 14, as "Charred Beloved II".
1953b New York
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, Arshile Gorky in the Final Years, February 16–March 14, 1953, no. 12, as "Charred Beloved II".
1954 Minneapolis
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Reality and Fantasy 1900–1954, May 23–July 2, 1954, no. 67, as Charred Beloved No. 2.
1955–56 AFA
American Federation of Arts, New York (organizer), In Memoriam: 12 American Artists Who Died in the Past 12 Years, 1955–56, no. 7, as "Charred Beloved II". Traveled to: National Arts Club, New York, September 10–20, 1955; Watkins Institute, Nashville, October 1–22, 1955; Hunter Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee, November 10–30, 1955; Gates Gallery, Port Arthur, Texas, December 14, 1955–January 4, 1956; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, January 15–February 6, 1956; University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, February 25–March 24, 1956; Atlanta Public Library, April 7–28, 1956; Des Moines Art Center, May 12–June 8, 1956; State University of Iowa, Iowa City, June 17–August 1, 1956.
1959 Houston
Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, The Romantic Agony: From Goya to de Kooning, April 23–May 31, 1959, ill. in b/w, p. 20, as "Charred Beloved II".
1960 Munich
Städtische Galerie München (Lenbachpalais), Munich, Neue Malerei: Form Struktur Bedeutung, June 10–August 28, 1960, no. 45, ill. in b/w, as "Charred Beloved".
1962 Venice
XXXI Biennale di Venezia: Internazionale d'Arte, U.S. Pavillion, Venice, Italy, Arshile Gorky, June 16–October 7, 1962, no. 21, p. 114, as "L'amata bruciata II".
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. 85, ill. in b/w, p. 38; p. 55, as "Charred Beloved II". Traveled to: Washington Gallery of Modern Art, D.C., March 12–April 14, 1963.
1981–82 New York
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 196, ill. in b/w, p. 219, as "Charred Beloved 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.
1984–85 Amsterdam
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, La Grande Parade: Hoogtepunten van de schilderkunst na 1940 / Highlights in Painting after 1940, December 15, 1984–April 15, 1985, no. 97, ill. in color, p. 141; p. 339, as "Charred Beloved II".
1995–96 Geneva
Musée Rath, Geneva, Les Figures de la liberté, October 27, 1995–January 7, 1996, p. 322, as "Charred Beloved II".
2009–10 Philadelphia
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, October 15, 2009–January 10, 2010. (Exhibition catalogue: Taylor 2009a), pl. 167, ill. in color, p. 330; p. 391, as "Charred Beloved II". 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
Curl 1951
Curl, Huldah. "Arshile Gorky: Memorial Exhibition." Notes and Comments from the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis) 5 (March 1951), ill. in b/w, p. 2, as "The Charred Beloved".
de Kooning 1951
de Kooning, Elaine. "Gorky: Painter of his Own Legend." Artnews (New York) 49, no. 9 (January 1951), discussed p. 65, as "Charred Beloved".
Mitchell 1953
Mitchell, Fred. "Gallery Previews in New York." Pictures on Exhibit XVI, no. 6 (March 1953), discussed p. 22, as "Charred Beloved II".
[Unknown] 1955
"Famous Sloan Painting in Gates Gallery Art Exhibit." [Unknown newspaper], December 14, 1955, discussed, as "Charred Beloved, II".
Blesh 1956
Blesh, Rudi. Modern Art USA: Men, Rebellion, Conquest, 1900–1956. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1956, ill. in b/w , p. 212, as Charred Beloved No. 2.
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.1, ill. in b/w, as "Charred Beloved II".
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. 58, ill. in b/w, p. 129, as "Charred Beloved, II".
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. 71, ill. in b/w, p. 349, as "Charred Beloved II".
Rosenberg 1962a
Rosenberg, Harold. Arshile Gorky: The Man, the Time, the Idea. New York: Horizon Press, 1962. Monograph, discussed p. 104.
Kozloff 1965
Kozloff, Max. "The Critical Reception of Abstract-Expressionism." Arts Magazine (New York) 40, no. 2 (December 1965), ill. in b/w, p. 32, as "Charred Beloved".
Levy 1966
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 140, ill. in b/w, p. 164, as "Charred Beloved II".
Jordan 1981
Jordan, Jim M. "Gorky at the Guggenheim." Art Journal (New York) 41, no. 3 (Fall 1981), discussed p. 263, as "Charred Beloved II".
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. 14–2, ill. in b/w, p. 214, as "Charred Beloved II".
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 "Charred Beloved II".
Millard 1982
Millard, Charles W. "Arshile Gorky." The Hudson Review (New York) 35, no. 1 (Spring 1982), discussed, p. 110, as "Charred Beloved II".
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. 88, as "Charred Beloved II".
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. 306, ill. in b/w, pp. 470–71, as "Charred Beloved II".
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. 78, ill. in b/w, as "Charred Beloved II".
Rand 1991
Rand, Harry. Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols. Rev. ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991. Monograph, fig. 14–2, ill. in b/w, p. 238, as "Charred Beloved II".
Akiskal and Akiskal 1996
Akiskal, Kareen K., and Hagop S. Akiskal. "Abstract Expressionism as Psychobiography: The Life and Suicide of Arshile Gorky." In Depression and the Spiritual in Modern Art: Homage to Miró, Schildkraut, Joseph J. and Aurora Otero, eds. Chichester (U.K.) and New York: John Wiley, 1996, fig. 19–8, ill. in b/w, p. 233, as "Charred Beloved II".
FitzGerald 2006b
FitzGerald, Michael. "Picasso and American Art: Chapter Four (1940–1949)." In Picasso and American Art. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, in association with Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2006. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 92, ill. in b/w, p. 229; discussed p. 230, as "Charred Beloved II".
Beredjiklian 2007
Beredjiklian, Alexandre. Arshile Gorky: sept thèmes majeurs. Suresnes, France: Alphamédian & Johanet; Lisbon: Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, 2007. Monograph, discussed p. 55, as "Bien-aimée calcinée II".
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. 61, ill. in b/w, p. 86, as "Charred Beloved II".
Mattison 2009
Matttison, Robert S. Arshile Gorky: Works and Writings. Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafica, 2009. Monograph, ill. in color, p. 110, as "Charred Beloved II".
Gale 2010
Gale, Matthew. Arshile Gorky: Enigma and Nostalgia. London: Tate Publishing, 2010. Exhibition catalogue (2009–10 Philadelphia), no. 36, ill. in color, p. 76, as "Charred Beloved II".
Notes

Reverse, in pencil, on a section of the canvas folded around the upper stretcher bar [possibly in artist's hand]: CHARRED BELOVed; in pencil, on vertical stretcher bar: Charred Beloved [sideways]

The reverse inscription information and marking are known from a photograph provided by the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Commentary

Shortly after Gorky's studio in Sherman, Connecticut, was destroyed by fire in mid-January 1946, the art collectors Kathrin (1900–1984) and Walter Hochschild (1900–1983) offered him use of the ballroom in their penthouse apartment located at 1200 Fifth Avenue. In this temporary studio, Gorky created four paintings (P305, P306, P307, and P371), three of which were sent to Julien Levy Gallery in New York, where they were exhibited that April.1 This painting is the second work on the checklist: Charred Beloved No. 2. It was titled by Gorky in anticipation of Levy's exhibition, likely through a collaborative process of free association which he and André Breton (1896–1966) had experimented with a year earlier (see commentary for P287). The painting's overall composition is closely reference in one known drawing (see D1203).

The devastating studio fire was unexpectedly liberating for the artist as Agnes "Mougouch" Gorky (1921–2013) later explained. "The fire was awful, breathtaking, but I have never seen Gorky so strong, so calm, so free as he was that next day. The studio was destroyed but the paintings, he said, were all in him. He would make better ones."2 Gorky himself would later comment, "sometimes it is very good to have everything cleaned out like that, and be forced to begin again."3

Writing to a friend in early February about the unusual situation, Mougouch noted: "Gorky is working very hard. I send him off in the morning with his lunch pail so that he won't have to come down from his tower until dark. Surely the only man who goes off to work in a penthouse ballroom toting his lunch in a little black pail—a sky miner—He's strangely happy. The Ballroom will do till we find something else—its very far—101st & 5th but the people have been very nice & leave him entirely to himself. . . ."4

1. Julien Levy Gallery, New York, Arshile Gorky: Paintings, April 9–May 4, 1946.

2. Agnes Gorky Phillips, "Unpublished Critique of Ethel Schwabacher's Biography," c. 1957, in Matthew Spender, ed., Arshile Gorky: The Plow and the Song: A Life in Letters and Documents (Zurich: Hauser & Wirth Publishers, 2018), 533; see also: Letter from Agnes "Mougouch" Gorky to Jeanne Reynal, late January 1946, in ibid, 372.

3. Arshile Gorky, as quoted in Talcott B. Clapp, "A Painter in a Glass House," Sunday Republican Magazine (February 29, 1948): 3.

4. Letter from Agnes "Mougouch" Gorky to Jeanne Reynal, February 5, 1946, in Spender, ed., 375.

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