previousno image available
Provenance
Private collection (1975)
Exhibitions
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, January 5–February 18, 1951, no. 55, p. 47, as "Last Painting" (exhibited in New York only). 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, no. 23, as "Last Painting".
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, Paintings by Arshile Gorky from 1929 to 1948, February 5–March 3, 1962. (Exhibition catalogue: Sidney Janis Gallery 1962), no. 28, ill. in b/w, as "Last Painting".
XXXI Biennale di Venezia: Internazionale d'Arte, U.S. Pavilion, Venice, Italy, Arshile Gorky, June 16–October 7, 1962, no. 31, p. 114, as "Ultimo dipinto".
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, December 19, 1962–February 12, 1963. (Exhibition catalogue: Seitz 1962), no. 121, ill. in b/w, p. 50; p. 56, as "Last Painting". Traveled to: Washington Gallery of Modern Art, D.C., March 12–April 14, 1963.
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Arshile Gorky, Paintings and Drawings / Arshile Gorky: Schilderijen en Tekeningen, 1965, no. 150, as "Laatste schilderij / Last painting". 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).
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Tate Gallery, Arshile Gorky: Paintings and Drawings, April 2–May 2, 1965, no. 105, as "Last Painting".
Museum of Modern Art, New York, International Council (organizer), Two Decades of American Painting, 1966–67, as "Last Painting," [Japan: unnumbered checklist, p. 66]. Traveled to: National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, October 15–November 27, 1966; National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, December 10, 1966–January 22, 1967; Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, March 28–April 15, 1967; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, June 6–July 9, 1967; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, July 17–August 13, 1967.
Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Turin, Italy, Le Muse Inquietanti: Maestri del Surrealismo, November 1967–January 1968, no. 264, as "Ultimo dipinto".
M. Knoedler & Co. Inc, New York, Gorky, de Kooning, Newman, June 26–September 20, 1969, as "Last Painting".
Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 20th Century American Masters, 1978.
Xavier Fourcade Inc, New York, Arshile Gorky: Important Paintings and Drawings, April 3–28, 1979, ill. in color, as "Last Painting," dated 1947.
Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York, The Abstract Expressionists and their Precursors, January 17–March 22, 1981, no. 3, ill. in color, as "Last Painting".
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 249, ill. in b/w, p. 253, as "Last Painting". Traveled to: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, September 12–November 6, 1981; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 3, 1981–February 28, 1982.
International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, D.C. (organizer), 20th Century Masters: The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, 1982–84, no. 60, ill. in color, p. 69, as "The Black Monk". Traveled to: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., May 30–September 8, 1982; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, October 1–November 28, 1982; Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, December 17, 1982–February 20, 1983; Seattle Art Museum, March 15–May 15, 1983; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 2–July 31, 1983; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, August 30–November 27, 1983; Phoenix Art Museum, January 6–February 26, 1984.
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Europa/Amerika: Die Geschichte einer künstlerischen Faszination seit 1940, September 6–November 30, 1986, no. 56, ill. in color, p. 56, as "The Black Monk / Last Painting".
Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Stationen der Moderne: Die bedeutenden Kunstausstellungen des 20. Jahrhunderts in Deutschland, September 25, 1988–January 8, 1989, no. 16/21, p. 442; ill. in color, p. 443, as "Last Painting".
Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundación Caja de Pensiones, Madrid, Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, October 17–December 23, 1989, no. 50, ill. in color, p. 59, as "Last Painting/The Black Monk". Traveled to: Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, January 19–March 25, 1990.
Museum Bochum, Germany, Armenien: Wiederentdeckung einer alten Kulturlandschaft, January 14–April 17, 1995, no. 328, ill. in color, p. 399, as "Letztes Gemälde (Der schwarze Mönch)" (not exhibited).
Centre Cultural de la Fundacio "la Caixa," Barcelona, Made in USA 1940–1970: De l'Expressionisme Abstracte al Pop, January 28–March 28, 1999. (Exhibition catalogue: Fundació la Caixa 1999), ill. in color, p. 49, as "Last Painting (The Black Monk) / Última pintura (el monjo negre) / Última pintura (el monje negro)".
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Between Art and Life: Vom Abstrakten Expressionismus zur Pop Art, April 30–July 10, 1999, ill. in color, p. 55, as "Last Painting (The Black Monk)".
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Surrealistas en el exilio y los inicios de la Escuela de Nueva York, December 21, 1999–February 27, 2000, ill. in color (repr. in reverse), p. 311, as "The Black Monk / El monje negro".
Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Bajo la bomba: El jazz de la guerra de imágenes transatlántica, 1946–1956, October 4, 2007–January 7, 2008, ill. in color, pp. 414–15; p. 746, as "Last Painting (Black Monk)".
Foundation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland, Action Painting, January 27–May 12, 2008, no. 19, ill. in color, p. 61, as "Last Painting (The Black Monk)".
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, October 15, 2009–January 10, 2010. (Exhibition catalogue: Taylor 2009a), pl. 186, ill. in color, p. 349; p. 392, as "Last Painting". 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).
Ca'Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art, Venice, Italy, Arshile Gorky: 1904–1948, May 8–September 22, 2019, ill. in color, p. 143, as "Last Painting".
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Centro de Arte Moderna José Azeredo Perdigão, Lisbon, to go to. Jorge Queiroz | Arshile Gorky, July 8–October 17, 2022, ill. in color, pp. 41–42, as "Last Painting (The Black Monk)".
Literature
Devree, Howard. "Whitney to Offer Arshile Gorky Art: Memorial Show of Paintings and Drawings Opens at the Museum Tomorrow." New York Times, January 4, 1951, discussed, p. 27, as "untitled".
Devree, Howard. "A Memorable Year: The Modern Movement at Its 1913 Pitch—The Whitney's Gorky Memorial." New York Times, January 7, 1951, discussed, sec. 2, p. 9, as "the last untitled painting of the year of his death".
Mooradian, Karlen. "Arshile Gorky." Armenian Review (Watertown, MA) 8, no. 2 (Summer 1955), discussed p. 57, as "Last Painting".
"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. 4, ill. in b/w, as senza titolo, il suo ultimo.
Schwabacher, Ethel. Arshile Gorky. Introduction by Meyer Schapiro. New York: The Macmillan Company for the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1957. Monograph, fig. 69, ill. in b/w, p. 148, as "Last Painting".
Rudikoff, Sonya. "Gorky and Tomlin." Review of Arshile Gorky, by Ethel Schwabacher. Partisan Review (New York) 25, no. 1 (Winter 1958), discussed pp. 159–160, as "Last Painting".
Barilli, Renato. "La Pittura di Arshile Gorky." La Biennale 43 (April–June 1961), ill. in b/w, p. 14, as "Last Painting".
Reiff, Robert F. "A Stylistic Analysis of Arshile Gorky's Art from 1943–1948." Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, New York, 1961, fig. 92, ill. in b/w, p. 370, as "Last Painting".
O'Hara, Frank. "Art Chronicle." Kulchur (New York) 2, no. 6 (Summer 1962), discussed p. 56, as "Last Painting".
Sarkisian, Mardiros. "Gorky." Ararat (New York) 3 (Summer 1962), ill. in b/w , p. 14, as "Last Painting".
Rosenberg, Harold. Arshile Gorky: The Man, the Time, the Idea. New York: Horizon Press, 1962. Monograph, discussed p. 122.
Reiff, Robert. "The Late Works of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Estimate." Art Journal (New York) 22, no. 3 (Spring 1963), discussed p. 149, as "Last Painting".
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 208, ill. in color, p. 232, as "Last Painting".
Karp, Diane. "Arshile Gorky's Iconography." Arts Magazine (New York) 50, no. 7 (March 1976), ill. in b/w, p. 85, as "Last Painting".
Suenaga, Terukazu. "Mirror of Memory: Gorky's Cruel Change." Mizue (みづゑ) (Tokyo) 9, no. 894 (September 1979), ill. in color, p. 31, dated 1947.
Cullinan, Helen. "The First and Last of Arshile Gorky." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), July 5, 1981, discussed, as "Last Painting".
de Kooning, Willem and Bruce Hooton. "One Who Saw First—Major Gorky Show." Art/World (New York) 5, no. 8 (April 18–May 16, 1981), ill. in b/w, p. 1, as "Last Painting".
Jordan, Jim M. "Gorky at the Guggenheim." Art Journal (New York) 41, no. 3 (Fall 1981), discussed p. 265, as "Last Painting".
Rand, Harry. Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols. Montclair, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun & Co. Publishers Inc., and London: George Prior Associated Publishers Ltd., 1981. Monograph, pl. V, ill. in color, as "The Black Monk (The Last Painting)".
Karp, Diane. "Arshile Gorky: The Language of Art." Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1982, fig. 89, ill. in b/w, p. 257, as "Last Painting".
Reiff, Robert. "Review." Review of Arshile Gorky: The Implications of Symbols, by Harry Rand. Art Journal (New York) 42, no. 1 (Spring 1982), discussed p. 77, as "The Black Monk".
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. 91, as "Last Painting".
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. 360, ill. in b/w, pp. 540–41, as "Last Painting".
Seitz, William C. Abstract Expressionist Painting in America. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press for the National Gallery of Art, 1983, fig. 92, ill. in b/w, as "Last Painting".
Lader, Melvin P. Arshile Gorky. New York: Abbeville Press, 1985. Monograph, fig. 106, ill. in b/w, p. 105, as "Last Painting".
Frankel, Claire. "Gorky: Tragic Lyricism." International Herald Tribune (Paris), March 10–11, 1990, discussed, p. 7, as "Last Painting/The Black Monk".
Anfam, David. Abstract Expressionism. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1990, discussed p. 118, as "Last Painting".
Rand, Harry. Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols. Rev. ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991. Monograph, pl. XV, ill. in color, n.p., as "The Black Monk (The Last Painting)".
Sawin, Martica. Surrealism in Exile and the Beginning of the New York School. Cambridge, MA, and London: The MIT Press, 1995, ill. in b/w, p. 411, as "The Black Monk (The Last Painting)".
Herrera, Hayden. Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003, fig. 180, ill. in color, as "Last Painting".
Matttison, Robert S. Arshile Gorky: Works and Writings. Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafica, 2009. Monograph, ill. in color, p. 143, as "Last Painting (The Black Monk)".
Gale, Matthew. Arshile Gorky: Enigma and Nostalgia. London: Tate Publishing, 2010. Exhibition catalogue (2009–10 Philadelphia), no. 49, ill. in color, p. 89, as "Last Painting (The Black Monk)".
Weston, Neville. "Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective." Craft Arts International (Neutral Bay Junction, N.S.W.) 79 (2010), ill. in color, p. 84, as "Last Painting (The Black Monk)".
Wullschläger, Jackie. "Abstraction in Venice — Jean Arp, Arshile Gorky and Helen Frankenthaler." The Financial Times (London), May 18, 2019 (accessed online), discussed, as "Last Painting".
Eisenthal, Jessica. "Speak to Me About Big Things, Now About Small Things: Arshile Gorky: A Study with Titles." Ursula (New York) 4, no. 9 (Fall/Winter 2023), discussed, pp. 83–84, as "Last Painting" and "Last Painting (The Black Monk)".
Warren, Beth Gates, and Marie Difilippantonio. Julien Levy: The Man, His Gallery, His Legacy. New York: Jean and Julien Levy Foundation for the Arts, 2023, fig. 64, ill. in color, p. 211, as "Last Painting (The Black Monk)".
![[Drawing, 'Last Painting']c. 1946 D1502](https://cdn.panopticoncr.com/arshgor001/catalogue_images/main_sm/vvwcntnz/81.021%20copy_JPEG%20for%20Database.jpg "[Drawing, 'Last Painting']c. 1946 D1502")
