Arshile Gorky

(American, 1904–1948)

Arshile Gorky was an Armenian-American painter best known for his profound influence on the developments of Abstract Expressionism. Gorky built on the developments of Surrealism with a vocabulary of painterly brushwork and idiosyncratic forms, to produce works such as Garden in Sochi (1941). “The stuff of thought is the seed of the artist. Dreams form the bristles of the artist's brush,” he once mused. “As the eye functions as the brain's sentry, I communicate my innermost perceptions through the art, my worldview.” Born Vostanik Manoug Adoian on April 15, 1904 in Khorgom, Ottoman Empire, he and his family were victims of the Armenian Genocide. Having survived a death march at the hands of the Turkish military, he saw his mother die from starvation as a teenager. This event scarred the young artist, with the painful memory later leading him to produce The Artist and His Mother (1926–1936). Fleeing first to Russia and then to the United States in 1920, he changed his name and identity, adopting the last of name of the Russian writer Maxim Gorky to avoid discussing his past. He went on to attend the New School of Design in Boston, where he absorbed the influence of Impressionism and Paul Cézanne. Moving to New York in the early 1930s, he found work as a muralist for the WPA, where he met fellow painters Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. By 1940, Gorky had adopted a Surrealist logic and began using his drawings from nature as catalysts for his abstract paintings. Suffering from depression brought on by health problems and the dissolution of his marriage, the artist committed suicide on July 21, 1948 in Sherman, CT. Today, his works are held the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Tate Gallery in London, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others.
 

Arshile Gorky News

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By the Numbers: A Breakdown of Results From Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale, November 2023

by Eileen Kinsella
By the Numbers: A Breakdown of Results From Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale, November 2023
Galleries

During Routine Maintenance, Conservators Discovered an Unknown Arshile Gorky Painting Hidden Behind a Work on Paper

by Sarah Cascone
During Routine Maintenance, Conservators Discovered an Unknown Arshile Gorky Painting Hidden Behind a Work on Paper
Auctions

New Auction Records for Hopper and de Kooning Lead Christie's Booming $318 Million Barney Ebsworth Sale

by Eileen Kinsella
New Auction Records for Hopper and de Kooning Lead Christie's Booming $318 Million Barney Ebsworth Sale

Arshile Gorky Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Arshile Gorky (542 results)
Untitled, 1938–1943

Arshile Gorky

Untitled, 1938–1943

Sale Date: May 8, 2024

Auction Closed

Untitled (Study for Pirate), 1942

Arshile Gorky

Untitled (Study for Pirate), 1942

Sale Date: March 7, 2024

Auction Closed

Still Life, 1928

Arshile Gorky

Still Life, 1928

Sale Date: March 13, 2024

Auction Closed

Self Portrait, 1926

Arshile Gorky

Self Portrait, 1926

Sale Date: February 27, 2024

Auction Closed

Untitled [Study, after Picasso’s..., 1930–1931

Arshile Gorky

Untitled [Study, after Picasso’s..., 1930–1931

Sale Date: December 14, 2023

Auction Closed

Portrait of Helen Austin, 1927

Arshile Gorky

Portrait of Helen Austin, 1927

Sale Date: November 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Senza titolo

Arshile Gorky

Senza titolo

Sale Date: November 7, 2023

Auction Closed

Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia; Head..., 1932–1934

Arshile Gorky

Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia; Head..., 1932–1934

Sale Date: November 16, 2023

Auction Closed

Charred Beloved I, 1946

Arshile Gorky

Charred Beloved I, 1946

Sale Date: November 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Study for Pirate), 1942

Arshile Gorky

Untitled (Study for Pirate), 1942

Sale Date: September 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Bull in the Sun carpet, 1968

After Arshile Gorky

Bull in the Sun carpet, 1968

Sale Date: July 18, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1946

Arshile Gorky

Untitled, 1946

Sale Date: May 17, 2023

Auction Closed

Study for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia, 1931–1932

Arshile Gorky

Study for Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia, 1931–1932

Sale Date: May 16, 2023

Auction Closed

Portrait of Y.D., 1945

Arshile Gorky

Portrait of Y.D., 1945

Sale Date: May 16, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (from the Fireplace in Virginia..., 1946

Arshile Gorky

Untitled (from the Fireplace in Virginia..., 1946

Sale Date: May 18, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Drawing), 1946

Arshile Gorky

Untitled (Drawing), 1946

Sale Date: May 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1944

Arshile Gorky

Untitled, 1944

Sale Date: May 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (The Horns of the Landscape), 1944

Arshile Gorky

Untitled (The Horns of the Landscape), 1944

Sale Date: May 11, 2023

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1943

Arshile Gorky

Sans titre, 1943

Sale Date: March 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1943

Arshile Gorky

Untitled, 1943

Sale Date: March 3, 2023

Auction Closed

Study for 'Agony', 1946

Arshile Gorky

Study for 'Agony', 1946

Sale Date: July 14, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1946

Arshile Gorky

Untitled, 1946

Sale Date: June 1, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1946–1948

Arshile Gorky

Untitled, 1946–1948

Sale Date: June 1, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1932

Arshile Gorky

Untitled, 1932

Sale Date: May 18, 2022

Auction Closed

English (US)

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