Portrait of Vartoosh

Date
Artist
Arshile Gorky, American, b. Dilkaya, Turkey, 1904–1948
Provenance
The artist, New York, to 1942
Joseph H. Hirshhorn, New York, 1942-17 May 1966
Gift of the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1966
Exhibition History
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, New York. "Arshile Gorky: Memorial Exhibition," 5 January-18 February 1951, no.1, pp. 12, 46. Tour: WALKER ART CENTER, Minneapolis, 4 March-22 April; SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF ART, 9 May-9 July.
ART MUSEUM, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. "Arshile Gorky: A Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings," 6-26 October 1952, no. 1.
MARTHA JACKSON GALLERY, New York. "Exhibition of Paintings by Arshile Gorky: The Middle Period," 31 March-24 April 1954, no. 45.
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, New York. "Arshile Gorky: Paintings, Drawings, Studies," 17 December 1962-12 February 1963, no. 10. Tour: WASHINGTON GALLERY OF MODERN ART, Washington, DC, 12 March-14 April.
TATE GALLERY, London. "Arshile Gorky: Paintings and Drawings," 2 April-2 May 1965, no. 12. Tour: PALAIS DES BEAUX-ARTS, Brussels, 22 May-27 June; MUSEUM BOYMANS VAN BEUNINGEN, Rotterdam, 9 July-15 August, no. 13.
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. "Inaugural Exhibition," 4 October 1974-15 September 1975, no. 430, ill. p. 307; p. 697.
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. "Arshile Gorky: The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection," 4 October-25 November 1979, catalogue by Phyllis D. Rosenzweig, no. 4, colorpl. p. 11; pp. 20-21, ill.
SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, New York. "Arshile Gorky, 1904-1948: A Retrospective," 23 April-19 July 1981, no. 66. Tour: DALLAS MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, 11 September-8 November; LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART, 3 December-28 February 1982.
ISRAEL MUSEUM, Jerusalem. "Arshile Gorky," 15 October-15 December 1987. Tour: LOUISIANA MUSEUM, Humblebaek, Denmark, 1 January-15 February 1988; KUNSTHALLE, Düsseldorf, Germany, 1 March-15 April; WHITECHAPEL GALLERY, London, 1 May-15 June.
NEUBERGER MUSEUM, STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, Purchase. "John Graham: Artist and Avatar," 25 June-12 September 1987, no. 80, ill. p. 37. Tour: NEWPORT HARBOR ART MUSEUM, Newport Beach, California, 23 October-3 January 1988; UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Berkeley, 20 January-20 March; DAVID AND ALFRED SMART GALLERY, University of Chicago, 14 April-12 June; PHILLIPS COLLECTION, Washington, DC (organizer), 9 July-4 September.
FUNDACION CAJA DE PENSIONES, Madrid. "Arshile Gorky: 1904-1948," 17 October-23 December 1989, no. 8, ill. p. 73; pp. 169, 190. Tour: WHITECHAPEL ART GALLERY, London, 19 January-25 March 1990.
NASSAU COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART, Roslyn Harbor, New York. "Faces & Figures," 21 September 1997-4 January 1998, fig. 38, p. 45; p. 100.
GAGOSIAN GALLERY, New York. "Arshile Gorky: Portraits," 20 March-27 April 2002, ill. p. 63.
FRESNO ART MUSEUM / ARMENIAN MUSEUM OF FRESNO. "Vosdanik Manouk Adoian a.k.a. Arshile Gorky," 7 April-3 June 2006, cat.
PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART. "Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective," 21 October 2009-10 January 2010, cat. Tour: TATE MODERN, London, 10 February-3 May; MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, Los Angeles, 6 June-20 September.
Published References
GENAUER, EMILY. "Art and Artists: The Whitney's Memorial Exhibit and the Arshile Gorky Tragedy," New York Herald Tribune (7 January 1951).
COATES, ROBERT M. "The Art Galleries: Moderns-Past and Present," New Yorker XXVI, no. 48 (20 January 1951), p. 60.
UNSIGNED. "Gorky: Was He Tops or Second Rate?" Art Digest 25, no. 8 (15 January 1957), pp. 9, 30.
SCHWABACHER, ETHEL K. Arshile Gorky (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art/Macmillan, 1957), pl. 1, p. 24; p. 29.
FRIED, MICHAEL. "New York Letter," Art International VII, no. 9 (5 December 1963), p. 68.
LEVY, JULIEN. Arshile Gorky (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1966), pl. 26.
ASHTON, DORE. "Gli Inizi Dell'Espressionismo Astratto in America," L'Arte Moderna XIII, no. 109 (1967), ill. p. 8.
JACOBS, JAY. "Collector: Joseph H. Hirshhorn," Art in America 57, no. 4 (July-August 1969), p. 68.
LERNER, ABRAM, et al. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1974), fig. 430, p. 307; p. 697.
HUDSON, ANDREW. "Hirshhorn Museum," Studio 188, rev. 4 (October 1974), ill.
UNSIGNED. "Acquisitions of Modern Art by Museums," supplement to Burlington Magazine CXVI, no. 860 (November 1974), fig.114, p. 702.
BUTLER, JOSEPH T. "America," Connoisseur 187, no. 755 (November 1974), fig. 8, p. 208; p. 206.
ROBBINS, DANIEL. "The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Museum: New Seat on the Mall," New Republic 171, no. 22 (30 November 1974), p. 24, ill. p. 27.
REIFF, ROBERT F. A Stylistic Analysis of Arshile Gorky's Art from 1943-1948 (New York and London: Garland Publishing Inc., 1977), fig. 2, p. 180; pp. 5, 350.
SOYER, RAPHAEL. Diary of an Artist (Washington, DC: New Republic Books, 1977), p. 244.
SUENAGA, TERUKAZU. "Mirror of Memory: Gorky's Cruel Change," Mizue 9, no. 894 (September 1979), ill. p. 39.
RAND, HARRY. Arshile Gorky: The Implications of Symbols (Montclair, New Jersey: Allanheld & Schram, 1980), fig. 2-1, p. 13; pp. 12, 14-17.
JORDAN, JIM M. and ROBERT GOLDWATER. The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue (New York and London: New York University Press, 1982), no. 111, ill. p. 240; pp. 50-51, 56-57, 239, 326, 345.
ASHTON, DORE, ed. Twentieth Century Artists on Art (New York: Pantheon Books, 1985).
LADER, MELVIN P. Arshile Gorky (New York: Abbeville Press, 1985), fig. 53, p. 58; p. 61.
SCHILDKRAUT, JOSEPH J., ed. Depression and the Spiritual in Modern Art: Homage to Miró (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1996), p. 225.
See more items in
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection
School
Abstract Expressionism (First Generation)
Credit Line
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1966
Data Source
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Accession Number
66.2148
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
20 1/4 × 15 1/8 in. (51.3 × 38.4 cm)