Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia

c. 1931-1934

Arshile Gorky

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

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and black and brown ink over graphite with scraping on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund and Andrew W. Mellon Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 55.9 x 72 cm (22 x 28 3/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1979.21.1

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Costello, No. D0176

  • Copyright

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

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist; to Ethel K. and Wolfgang S. Schwabacher, New York; to Fourcade Droll Inc., New York; and Artemis, Inc., London, July 9, 1974; to Xavier Fourcade Inc., New York, by April 1976; to ; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., February 7,1979.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1951

  • Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 5–February 18, 1951, no. 67, p. 48, dated c. 1932.

1952

  • Arshile Gorky: A Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, October 6–26, 1952.

1962

  • Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, Museum of Modern Art, New York, December 19, 1962–February 12, 1963. (Exhibition catalogue: Seitz 1962), no. 21, ill. in b/w, p. 20, as "Drawing"; p. 53, as "Drawing (Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia)," dated c. 1931–32.

1965

  • Arshile Gorky, Paintings and Drawings / Arshile Gorky: Schilderijen en Tekeningen, Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), 1965.

1969

  • Gorky: Drawings, M. Knoedler & Co. Inc, New York, November 25–December 27, 1969. (Exhibition catalogue: Jordan 1969), no. 14, ill. in b/w, p. 21; p. 55, as "Drawing for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia," dated c. 1931–32.

1975

  • Drawings by Five Abstract Expressionist Painters: Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Philip Guston, Hayden Gallery, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, February 21–March 26, 1975, no. 3, ill. in b/w, p. 23, as "Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia".

1976

  • Twentieth Century American Drawing: Three Avant-Garde Generations, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, January 23–March 28, 1976, no. 79, ill. in b/w, p. 62, as "Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia".

1979

  • Arshile Gorky: Important Paintings and Drawings, Xavier Fourcade Inc, New York, April 3–28, 1979, ill. in color, as "Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia," dated 1929–34.

1981

  • Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 41, ill. in b/w, p. 95, as "Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia," dated c. 1931–32.

1989

  • Arshile Gorky, 1904-1948, Fundación Caja de Pensiones, Madrid; The Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1989-1990, no. 53.

2001

  • A Century of Drawing, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002, no. 64.

2009

  • Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Tate Modern, London; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2009-2010, no. 49, repro. (shown only in Philadelphia).

Bibliography

1981

  • Waldman, D., Arshile Gorky, 1904-1948 : a retrospective. New York, 1981: 41.

2001

  • A Century of Drawing. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002: no. 64.

2009

  • Taylor, Michael R. ed. Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art; Tate Modern, London, England; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2009-2010, no. 49.

2016

  • National Gallery of Art. Highlights from the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Washington, 2016: 298, 299, repro.

Inscriptions

in later hand, lower right verso: 62.1161

Markings

None.

Watermarks

Strathmore

Wikidata ID

Q64536488

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