LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Measurements:

30.12 in. (76.50 cm.) (height) by 37.99 in. (96.50 cm.) (width)

Markings:

signed and dated 'A. Gorky '44' (l.l.)

Exhibited:

New York, Kootz Gallery, Selected Paintings by the Late Arshile Gorky, March-April 1950. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art; Minneapolis, Walker Art Center; San Francisco Museum of Art, Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, January-July 1951, no. 30. New York, Sidney Janis Gallery, 33 Paintings by Arshile Gorky, December 1957, n.p., pl. 20 (illustrated). Venice, XXXI Biennale Internazionale d’Arte, Arshile Gorky, June-October 1962, no. 15. New York, Museum of Modern Art; Washington, D.C., The Washington Gallery of Modern Art, Arshile Gorky: Paintings, Drawings, Studies, December 1962-February 1963, pp. 33 and 54. pl. 66 (illustrated). London, Tate Gallery; Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts; Rotterdam, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Arshile Gorky, Paintings and Drawings, April-August 1965, n.p., no. 59 (illustrated). Paris, Galerie de L'Oeil, L'Ecart absolu, December, 1965, no. 44. Turin, Galleria Il Museo Civico, Le Muse Inquietanti: Maestri del Surrealismo, November 1967-January 1968, p. 188, no. 260 (illustrated). Ithaca, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University; Tokyo, The Seibu Museum of Art; New York, Whitney Museum of American Art; Abstract Expressionism: The Formative Years, March-December 1978. New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Dallas Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Arshile Gorky 1904-1948: A Retrospective, April 1981-February 1982, n.p., no. 149 (illustrated in color). Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Arshile Gorky: The Breakthrough Years, May 1995-March 1996, pp. 96-97, pl. 4 (illustrated in color). Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; Seattle Art Museum, Twentieth-Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection, March-November 2000, pp. 110-114 and 283, no. 23 (illustrated in color). Philadelphia Museum of Art; London, Tate Modern; Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, October 2009-September 2010, pp. 280, pl. 119 (illustrated in color).

Literature:

E. K. Schwabacher, Arshile Gorky, New York, 1957, pp. 98-99. A. Jouffroy, "Arshile Gorky et les secrets de la nuit,” Cahiers du musée de poche, vol. 2, June 1959, p. 79 (illustrated). K. Roberts, "Major Retrospective at the Tate,” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 107, no. 746, May 1965, p. 271. J. Levy, Arshile Gorky, New York, 1966, n.p., pl. 115 (illustrated in color). E. Wasserman, The American Scene – Early Twentieth Century, New York, 1970, pp. 68 and 91, pl. 50 (illustrated in color). A. Kingsley, "Reviews and Previews," ARTnews, vol. 72, no. 1, January 1973, p. 18. A. Kingsley, "New York Letter," Art International, vol. 27, no. 2, February 1973, p. 42. Y. Kagitani, "Arshile Gorky: A Man Who Lived in the Middle of Solitude," Mizue, vol. 9, no. 858, September 1976, p. 32 (illustrated). H. Rand, Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols, New Jersey, 1981, pp. 8 and 110-113, pl. 6, fig. 6-11 (illustrated). J. M. Jordan and R. Goldwater, The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue, New York, 1982, pp. 441-442, no. 286 (illustrated). M. P. Lader, Arshile Gorky, New York, 1985, pp. 80-81, fig. 75 (illustrated). I. Dervaux, "Détail, analogie, et mimétisme. De l'inspiration de la nature dans les abstractions de Arshile Gorky," Les Cahier du Musée national d'art moderne, vol. 65, Autumn 1998, p. 58 (illustrated). N. Matossian, Black Angel: A Life of Arshile Gorky, London, 1998, pp. 365 and 425. M. Spender, From a High Place: A Life of Arshile Gorky, New York, 1999, pp. 274-275 and 283. H. Herrera, Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work, New York, 2003, p. 455, 458 and 766, fig. 161 (illustrated in color). D. Ngo, ed., Art + Architecture: The Ebsworth Collection + Residence, San Francisco, 2006, n.p. (installation views illustrated in color). A. Beredjiklian, Arshile Gorky: sept thèmes majeurs, Suresnes and Lisbon, 2007, pp. 52, 65 and 137.

Provenance:

Estate of the artist Merrill C. Berman, New York Allan Stone Gallery, New York, 1974 Acquired from the above by the late owner, 1997