Catalogue Entry

Commentary

In 1929, Gorky began a series of abstract works which is now referred to as "Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia." While he continued working on this until 1936, it was between 1931 and 1934 when he was most dedicated to developing the composition. Ultimately, he produced nearly one hundred drawings and three related paintings.

The first owner of the drawing was the publisher, print, and book dealer, Erhard Weyhe (1883–1972), who opened the Weyhe Gallery and its affiliated bookstore in New York in 1919. By 1923, the establishment was located on two levels of a brownstone at 794 Lexington Avenue. Because so many artists frequented his shop to peruse the art books, Weyhe often exchanged books for artwork. The seven works on paper by Gorky known to have been in the gallery's inventory are believed to have been acquired in this manner around 1933.¹

Of Gorky's visits, Weyhe later recalled, "he loved to see every new book. He'd sit here and use [the shop] as a library. . . . I'm not an art dealer. So the artists would come in and want a book. So I'd say, 'Why don't you give me one of your drawings or lithographs or etchings, huh?' So what I liked I took and gave them a nice book, a $6 book. And when a customer showed interest, I'd say, 'But I gave him a $50 book for it. You can have it for $50 if you want it.'"²

The drawing appears in the lower left of a photograph taken of Gorky in his 36 Union Square studio, c. 1933.

1. See also: Pr009, D0128, D0141, D0190, D0235, and D1581. Melvin P. Lader, telephone conversation with Martin Kline (Stephen Mazoh & Co. Inc., New York), c. January 1994, transcript, Melvin P. Lader Papers, AGF Archives; Letter from Alicia Zumela (Weyhe Gallery, New York), to Ethel Schwabacher, February 12, 1949, Arshile Gorky Research Collection (1936–1993), Francis Mulhall Achilles Library, Archives, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

2. Weyhe's Bookstore and Gallery moved from 710 Lexington Avenue in 1923. Erhard Weyhe, interview by Karlen Mooradian, Arshile Gorky/Mooradian Archive, Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, New York; Erhard Weyhe, "Conversations on Gorky," interview by Karlen Mooradian, May 2, 1966, The Many Worlds of Arshile Gorky (Chicago: Gilgamesh, 1980), 216.