Organization

1933-1936

Arshile Gorky

Artist, American, born Van Province, Ottoman Empire (now Turkey), c. 1904 - 1948

This abstract, square painting is filled with geometric shapes of flat color outlined in black. The largest shape is a white square in the center, which is overlapped or further divided into more rectangles in white, sea glass green, or pale pink. Some of the corners of the internal shapes are marked with a circle. A rounded black form, roughly the shape of a bulbous, lowercase h, sits to our left of center against the white square. A bright yellow disk with a crimson-red dot at its center is on the back end of the form. At the bottom right of the white square, there is a tall, blood-red rectangle with an inset, cup-like, steel-gray form at its top. Above the white square are narrow bands of white and soft purple, and below are fields of steel gray and white. A vertical band of buttercup yellow runs up along the top two-thirds of the right edge. The bottom left corner of this yellow shape is cut in with a ruby-red triangle. A collection of smaller, narrow shapes sits to our left of the white square. These include a canary-yellow disk over a tall, white triangle, and sea glass-green rectangle with two black, coffee bean-like forms, a black trapezoid, a topaz-blue square, and two white forms that could be stylized profiles with prominent noses. A band of crimson red flanked by a border of blue above and yellow below runs off the left edge. The field behind this jumble of shapes is pale, blush pink.
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On View

NGA, East Building, EG-100, S

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 127 x 152 cm (50 x 59 13/16 in.)
    framed: 134.6 x 160 x 7 cm (53 x 63 x 2 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1979.13.3

  • Copyright

    © 1997 The Estate of Arshile Gorky / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The estate of the artist; private collection, 1978; (Xavier Fourcade, Inc., New York); purchased 28 February 1979 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1936

  • Third Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1936, no. 10.

1941

  • Paintings by Arshile Gorky, San Francisco Museum of Art, 1941, as Composition.

1951

  • Arshile Gorky: Memorial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; San Francisco Museum of Art, 1951, no. 11, repro. (shown only in New York).

1962

  • Arshile Gorky: Paintings, Drawings, Studies, Museum of Modern Art, New York; Washington Gallery of Modern Art, Washington, D.C., 1962-1963, no. 27, repro.

  • Paintings by Arshile Gorky from 1929 to 1948, Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, February-March 1962, no. 5, repro.

  • XXXI Esposizione Biennale Internazionale D'Arte, Venice, June-October 1962, no. 4 in Rooms XXXVII and XXXVIII, pls. 89-92.

1965

  • Arshile Gorky: Paintings and Drawings, Tate Gallery, London; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels; Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1965, no. 27 (London) and no. 37 (Rotterdam), repros.

1977

  • The Modern Spirit: American Painting 1908-1935, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh; Hayward Gallery, London, 1977, no. 152.

1978

  • Murals Without Walls: Arshile Gorky's Aviation Murals Rediscovered, Newark Museum, 1978-1979; American Federation of Arts tour, 1979-1980, no. 5, repro. (shown only in Newark and on tour at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.).

  • American Abstract Art, Stadtische Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf; Centre National Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1978.

1979

  • Arshile Gorky, Xavier Fourcade, Inc., New York, 1979, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2003

  • Metafisica, Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome, 2003-2004, no. 99, repro.

2006

  • Picasso and American Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2006-2007, unnumbered catalogue, pl. 67.

2009

  • Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Tate Modern, London; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2009-2010, no. 66, repro.

2012

  • American Vanguards: Graham, Davis, Gorky, de Kooning, and their Circle, 1927-1942, Neuberger Museum, State University of New York at Purchase; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, 2012.

2015

  • Collection Conversations: The Chrysler and the National Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, 2015, no catalogue.

Bibliography

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 167, repro.

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 160, repro.

1981

  • Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: repro. 242, 243.

1988

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 188, repro.

1989

  • Strick, Jeremy. Twentieth Century Painting and Sculpture: Selections for the Tenth Anniversary of the East Building. Washington, D.C., 1989: 54, repro. 55.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 188, repro.

1997

  • Psychiatric Services: A Journal of the American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C., 1997, front cover, repro.

2001

  • Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA II: Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. Chicago, 2001: 186-187, 216, color repro.

2010

  • Gale, Matthew. Arshile Gorky: Enigma and Nostalgia. London, 2010: 40, fig. 16.

Inscriptions

across top reverse, on stretcher: TOP Arshile Gorky 36 Union Square 1933-1934 1936

Wikidata ID

Q20192914

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