Arshile Gorky

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

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Armenian-American painter (1904–1948)

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Arshile Gorky, The Plow and the Song, 1946, charcoal pencil, charcoal with erasing, pastel, graphite pencil, and spatters of oil paint on wove paper, Gift of the Avalon Foundation, 1971.58.1

The Plow and the Song

Arshile Gorky · 1946 · charcoal pencil, charcoal with erasing, pastel, graphite pencil, and spatters of oil paint on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1971.58.1

Arshile Gorky, Untitled, c. 1944, graphite and crayon on wove paper, squared for transfer, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1979.13.5

Untitled

Arshile Gorky · c. 1944 · graphite and crayon on wove paper, squared for transfer ·  Accession ID  1979.13.5

Arshile Gorky, Virginia Landscape, 1944, graphite and crayon on wove paper, Gift of Mrs. Walter Salant, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary ofthe National Gallery of Art, 1991.43.1

Virginia Landscape

Arshile Gorky · 1944 · graphite and crayon on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1991.43.1

Abstracted forms are painted in grass green, black, pepper red, butter yellow, tawny beige, rose pink, and a few touches of ocean blue in this horizontal composition. The paint is applied thinly, almost like watercolor wash. Translucent layers of paint drip down the canvas and knit the colors and shapes together. Most of the forms create a roughly pyramidal shape at the center. Some are vaguely square-shaped while others are oval, circular, or triangular. Many of the forms are outlined in black, and some have spots of color at their centers. For instance, a cluster of shapes near the lower right includes two canted parallelograms outlined with black. One has an emerald-green oval at its center and the other a black oval. Other shapes in that area include a rust-red triangle, a solid black anvil-shaped form, and a butternut-orange circle surrounded by vibrant yellow. A caramel-brown area spans the bottom edge of the canvas. The artist signed and dated the lower left corner, “A. Gorky 44.”
Arshile Gorky, One Year the Milkweed, 1944, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1979.13.2

One Year the Milkweed

Arshile Gorky · 1944 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1979.13.2

Arshile Gorky, Study for Mural for the Marine Transportation Building, New York World's Fair, 1939, opaque watercolor over graphite on paper mounted to board, Gift of the Avalon Foundation, 1971.59.1

Study for Mural for the Marine Transportation Building, New York World's Fair

Arshile Gorky · 1939 · opaque watercolor over graphite on paper mounted to board ·  Accession ID  1971.59.1

Arshile Gorky, Greetings (Christmas Card), c. 1938, woodcut, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 2008.115.2190

Greetings (Christmas Card)

Arshile Gorky · c. 1938 · woodcut ·  Accession ID  2008.115.2190

Arshile Gorky, Composition, c. 1936-1939, pen and black ink on wove paper, Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen, 2007.141.19

Composition

Arshile Gorky · c. 1936-1939 · pen and black ink on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2007.141.19

Arshile Gorky, Study for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia, 1934, pen and black ink on wove paper, Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen, 2012.92.502

Study for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia

Arshile Gorky · 1934 · pen and black ink on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2012.92.502

Arshile Gorky, Study for The Artist and His Mother, c. 1934-1936, graphite on squared paper, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1979.13.4

Study for The Artist and His Mother

Arshile Gorky · c. 1934-1936 · graphite on squared paper ·  Accession ID  1979.13.4

Arshile Gorky, Seated Figure, 1934, graphite on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Gift of Olga Hirshhorn), 2015.19.3374

Seated Figure

Arshile Gorky · 1934 · graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.3374