Catalogue Entry
verso
The drawing was made on the title page of the exhibition catalogue for Pablo Picasso, held at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, February 6, 1934–March 1, 1934.
In pencil, center right [not in artist's hand]: Gorky / [paraph]; / Knowledge / [line] / Knowing / [illegible] [sideways]
Commentary
In 1934, under the direction of Arthur Everett "Chick" Austin Jr. (1900–1957), the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, held the first retrospective exhibition of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) in the United States. Although there is no documentation to confirm that Gorky attended the exhibition, he did own a copy of the catalogue, in which he made several drawings. He later gave the catalogue to the American painter Corinne Michelle "Michael" West (1908–1991) with whom he became romantically involved in the spring of 1935.1 The two remained in touch through at least 1939 when West visited Gorky in New York during that year's World's Fair.
1. The catalogue is held in the Michael (Corinne) West Papers, Michael West Archive, at Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York.
![[Two Standing Figure Studies]c. 1934 D0425](https://cdn.panopticoncr.com/arshgor001/catalogue_images/main_sm/D0425.jpg "[Two Standing Figure Studies]c. 1934 D0425")