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The drawing was made on a page from the exhibition catalogue for Pablo Picasso, held at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, February 6, 1934–March 1, 1934.
Recto, in pencil, lower right [not in artist's hand]: Gorky / [paraph]
The verso inscription information is known from the Michael (Corinne) West Papers, Michael West Archive, courtesy of Hollis Taggart, New York.
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.
![[Still Life]c. 1934 D0395a](https://cdn.panopticoncr.com/arshgor001/catalogue_images/main_sm/D0395.jpg "[Still Life]c. 1934 D0395a")
![[Standing Female Nude]c. 1934 D0395b](https://cdn.panopticoncr.com/arshgor001/catalogue_images/main_sm/D0559.jpg "[Standing Female Nude]c. 1934 D0395b")