Soft Night
Date
1947
Artist
Arshile Gorky, American, b. Dilkaya, Turkey, 1904–1948
Provenance
The artist, New York
Julien Levy, New York
Mr. and Mrs. John Stephan, Greenwich, Connecticut, by November 1948-1962
Ruth (Stephan) Wagreen Franklin, by 1962-1976
New York City Health and Hospital Corporation/Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, 1976
Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York, 27 May 1976, sale no. 3882, lot 331
Joseph H. Hirshhorn, New York, 27 May 1976-31 August 1981
Estate of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1981-1986
The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981
Exhibition History
JULIEN LEVY GALLERY, New York. "Arshile Gorky," 29 February-20 March 1948.
JULIEN LEVY GALLERY, New York. "Arshile Gorky: 1905-1948," 16 November-4 December 1948, no. 8.
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, New York. "Arshile Gorky Memorial
Exhibition," 5 January-18 February 1951, no. 52. Tour: WALKER ART CENTER, Minneapolis, 4 March-22 April; SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF ART, 9 May-9 July.
XXXI BIENNALE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE, Venice. Salle XXXVII and XXVIII, 16 June-7 October 1962, no. 24.
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, New York. "Arshile Gorky: Paintings, Drawings, Studies," 17 December 1962-12 February 1963, no. 118, ill. p. 48. 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. 100, ill. Tour: PALAIS DES BEAUX-ARTS, Brussels, 22 May-27 June; MUSEUM BOYMANS VAN BEUNINGEN, Rotterdam, 9 July-15 August, no. 144.
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, New York. "Dada, Surrealism and Their Heritage," 27 March-9 June 1968, no. 266, ill. p. 172. Tour: LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART, 26 July-8 September; ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, 19 October-8 December.
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. "Selections from the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest," 7 August-16 November 1986, unpublished checklist, no. 41.
MODERN ART MUSEUM OF FORT WORTH. "Arshile Gorky: The Breakthrough Years," 13 January-17 March 1996, no. 21, pp. 130-131, ill. Tour: NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, Washington, DC, 14 May-17 September 1995; ALBRIGHT-KNOX ART GALLERY, Buffalo, 13 October-31 December 1995.
FUNDACIO "LA CAIXA," CENTRO CULTURAL, Barcelona. "Between Art and Life: From Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art," 28 January-28 March 1999. Tour: SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE, Frankfurt, 21 April-4 July.
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.
WALLRAF-RICHARTZ-MUSEUM & FONDATION CORBOUD. "Once Upon a Time in America: Three Centuries of US-American Art," 23 November 2018-24 March 2019.
FONDAZIONE MUSEI CIVICI VENEZIA. "Arshile Gorky: 1904-1948," 9 May-22 September 2019, color ill. p. 125.
Published References
GREENBERG, CLEMENT. "Art," Nation 166 (20 March 1948), p. 332.
STEPHAN, JOHN, ed. Tiger's Eye 1 (15 October 1949), p. 51.
SCHWABACHER, ETHEL K. Arshile Gorky (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1957), fig. 62, p. 135.
ROSENBERG, HAROLD. Arshile Gorky: The Man, The Time, The Idea (New York: Horizon Press, 1962), ill. p. 113.
REIFF, ROBERT. "Late Works," Art Journal 22, no. 3 (Spring 1963), p. 149.
LEVY, JULIEN. Arshile Gorky (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1966), pl. 189, p. 36.
REIFF, ROBERT F. A Stylistic Analysis of Arshile Gorky's Art from 1943-1948 (New York and London: Garland Publishing Inc., 1977), fig. 70, p. 348.
JORDAN, JIM M. and ROBERT GOLDWATER. The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue (New York and London: New York University Press, 1982), no. 350, pp. 529-530, ill.
RICHARD, PAUL. "Hirshhorn: A Collector's Touch," Washington Post (9 August 1986), ill. p. D1; p. D8.
WEIL, REX. "Arshile Gorky: National Gallery of Art," Art News 94, no. 7 (September 1995), p. 147.
ROSENZWEIG, PHYLLIS. "Arshile Gorky," in Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: 150 Works of Art (Washington, DC and New York: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in association with Harry N. Abrams, 1996), color ill. p. 78.
UNSIGNED. Catalog, Christie's Post-War (Day Sale), 16 November 2000, fig. 1, p. 30.
ANFAM, DAVID, ed. Abstract Expressionism (London: Royal Academy Books, 2016), fig. 83.
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, The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981
Data Source
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Accession Number
86.2341
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil, india ink, and conte crayon on canvas
Dimensions
38 1/8 × 50 1/8 in. (96.7 × 127.1 cm)
