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Catalogue Entry
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Provenance
Estate of Arshile Gorky (1948)
[M. Knoedler & Co. Inc., New York (1967)]
Estate of Arshile Gorky (March 7, 1974)
Private collection (1975)
[Xavier Fourcade Inc., New York (September 20, 1978)]
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (February 7, 1979)
Exhibitions
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. 16, ill. in b/w, p. 17; p. 53, as "The Artist and His Mother," n.d. Traveled to: Washington Gallery of Modern Art, D.C., March 12–April 14, 1963.1965 AC–Brussels and Rotterdam
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Arshile Gorky, Paintings and Drawings / Arshile Gorky: Schilderijen en Tekeningen, 1965, no. 17, ill. in b/w, as "De kunstenaar en zijn moeder / The artist and his mother," dated c. 1926–1936. 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).1965 AC–London
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Tate Gallery, Arshile Gorky: Paintings and Drawings, April 2–May 2, 1965, no. 17, ill. in b/w, as "The Artist and His Mother," dated c. 1926–36.1969e New York
M. Knoedler & Co. Inc, New York, Gorky: Drawings, November 25–December 27, 1969. (Exhibition catalogue: Jordan 1969), no. 45, ill. in b/w, p. 30; p. 57, as "The Artist and His Mother," dated c. 1936.1977 Zurich
Kunsthaus Zurich, Malerei und Photographie im Dialog von 1840 bis Heute, May 13–July 24, 1977, no. 53, ill. in b/w, p. 31, as "Zeichnung zum Gemälde "Arshile Gorky mit seiner Mutter"".1979b New York
Xavier Fourcade Inc, New York, Arshile Gorky: Important Paintings and Drawings, April 3–28, 1979, ill. in b/w, as "The Artist and His Mother," dated 1936.1981–82 New York
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 74, ill. in b/w, p. 121, as "Portrait of the Artist and His Mother," dated c. 1936. Traveled to: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, September 12–November 6, 1981; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 3, 1981–February 28, 1982.1989–90 Madrid
Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundación Caja de Pensiones, Madrid, Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, October 17–December 23, 1989, no. 62, ill. in color, p. 140, as "Portrait of the Artist and His Mother," dated c. 1936. Traveled to: Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, January 19–March 25, 1990.2002d New York
Gagosian Gallery, New York, Arshile Gorky: Portraits, March 20–April 27, 2002. (Exhibition catalogue: Gagosian Gallery 2002), ill. in color, pp. 22–23, as "Portrait of the Artist and His Mother," dated c. 1926–36.2003–04b New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective of Drawings, November 20, 2003–February 15, 2004, no. 57, ill. in color, p. 117; p. 243, as "Portrait of the Artist and His Mother," dated 1926–36. Traveled to: Menil Collection, Houston, March 5–May 9, 2004.2006 Fresno
Fresno Art Museum and the Armenian Museum (organizers), Fresno Art Museum, California, Vosdanik Manouk Adoian a.k.a. Arshile Gorky, April 7–June 4, 2006, no. 11, ill. in color, p. 29; p. 50, as "Portrait of the Artist and His Mother," dated 1934.2009–10 Philadelphia
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, October 15, 2009–January 10, 2010. (Exhibition catalogue: Taylor 2009a), pl. 29, ill. in color, p. 187; p. 386, as "Study for The Artist and His Mother," dated c. 1926, [exhibited in Philadelphia only]. 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
Coke 1964
Coke, Van Deren. The Painter and the Photograph. Albuequerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1964, fig. 160, ill. in b/w, p. 68, as "The Artist and His Mother".Levy 1966
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 24, ill. in b/w, p. 48, as "The Artist and His Mother," dated c. 1936.Rathbone 1978
Rathbone, Eliza E. "Arshile Gorky: The Plow and the Song." In American Art at Mid-Century: The Subjects of the Artist. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1978. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 11, ill. in b/w, p. 68, as "The Artist and His Mother".Richard 1979
Richard, Paul. "Artful Melodies of Pain." The Washington Post, June 2, 1979, ill. in b/w, p. C1.Suenaga 1979
Suenaga, Terukazu. "Mirror of Memory: Gorky's Cruel Change." Mizue (みづゑ) (Tokyo) 9, no. 894 (September 1979), ill. in b/w, p. 37, dated 1936.Kramer 1979a
Kramer, Hilton. "A Rare Gorky and Prints of Prendergast." New York Times, April 13, 1979, discussed, p. C1.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. 2–11, ill. in b/w, p. 24, as "The Artist and His Mother," dated 1936.Lader 1984
Lader, Melvin P. "Arshile Gorky's The Artist and His Mother: Further Study of Its Evolution, Sources, and Meaning." Arts Magazine (New York) 58 (January 1984), fig. 4, ill. in b/w, p. 98, as "Portrait of the Artist and His Mother".Lader 1985
Lader, Melvin P. Arshile Gorky. New York: Abbeville Press, 1985. Monograph, fig. 29, ill. in b/w, p. 34, as "The Artist and His Mother".Rand 1991
Rand, Harry. Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols. Rev. ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991. Monograph, fig. 2–11, ill. in b/w, p. 26, as "The Artist and His Mother," dated 1936.Cotter 2002
Cotter, Holland. "Suspended Between Modernism and an Armenian Past." New York Times, April 12, 2002, ill. in b/w, p. E35, as "The Artist and His Mother".Herrera 2002
Herrera, Hayden. "Gorky's Distant Likenesses." Art in America (New York) 90 (November 2002), ill. in color, p. 150, as "Portrait of the Artist and His Mother," dated 1926–36.Herrera 2003
Herrera, Hayden. Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003, fig. 7, ill. in b/w, as "Portrait of the Artist and His Mother".Princenthal 2004
Princenthal, Nancy. "Line Readings: Arshile Gorky's Line Drawings." Art in America (New York) 92 (May 2004), ill. in color, p. 134, as "Portrait of the Artist and His Mother".Beredjiklian 2007
Beredjiklian, Alexandre. Arshile Gorky: sept thèmes majeurs. Suresnes, France: Alphamédian & Johanet; Lisbon: Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, 2007. Monograph, discussed p. 27, as "Portrait de l'artiste et de sa mère," dated c. 1936 ?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. 55, ill. in color, p. 82, as "The Artist and His Mother".Mattison 2009
Matttison, Robert S. Arshile Gorky: Works and Writings. Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafica, 2009. Monograph, ill. in color, p. 21, as "Study for The Artist and His Mother," dated c. 1926.Meyer 2022
Meyer, James. "The Double: Identity and Difference in Art since 1900." In The Double: Identity and Difference in Art since 1900. Washington, D.C, Princeton, and Oxford: National Gallery of Art in association with Princeton University Press, 2022. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 9, ill. in color, p. 23; discussed pp. 23–24, as "Portrait of the Artist and His Mother".Notes
Gorky and his mother, Shushan Der Marderosian Adoian, Van, c. 1912. Unknown photographer (likely Hovhannes Avedaghayan). Courtesy of Dr. Bruce Berberian.
Portraits (sitter identified): Shushan der Marderosian (artist's mother)
Related Work
Themes: Portraits and heads; Self-portrait
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