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Arshile Gorky

The Plow and the Song, 1946

Not on View

Medium

charcoal pencil, charcoal with erasing, pastel, graphite pencil, and spatters of oil paint on wove paper

Dimensions

overall: 122 x 150.3 cm (48 1/16 x 59 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Avalon Foundation

Catalogue Raisonné

Costello, No.D1059

Accession Number

1971.58.1

Artists / Makers

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

Image Use

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Inscription

lower right: A. Gorky

Marks and Labels

None.

Provenance

Estate of the artist; to Julien Levy Gallery, New York, 1947; to Julien Levy, Bridgewater Connecticut, 1949; to Estate of Arshile Gorky, by 1953; to Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 13, 1953; to Elvine "V.V." [Magruder] and Paul Scott Rankine, Washington, DC;by October 29, 1955; to Stephen Mazoh & Co., New York. after 1966; purchased 1971 by NGA with funds from the Avalon Foundation.

Associated Names

Stephen Mazoh & Co., Inc.

Exhibition History

1978: American Art at Mid-Century: The Subjects of the Artist, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., June 1, 1978–January 14, 1979, as "The Plow and the Song".

1981: Arshile Gorky 1904–1948: A Retrospective, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, April 24–July 19, 1981, no. 202, ill. in b/w, p. 224, as "Study for The Plow and the Song".

1981: Contemporary American Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1981, unnumbered brochure.

1986: Graphics Survey Exhibition, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., October 1986.

1995: Arshile Gorky: The Breakthrough Years, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1995-1996, no. 38, repro. (shown only in Washington and Ft. Worth).

2001: A Century of Drawing, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002, no. 79.

2003: Arshile Gorky Drawings Retrospective, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Menil Collection, Houston, 2003-2004, no. 100.

2009: Arshile Gorky, A Retrospective, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Tate Modern, London; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2009-2010, no. 146, repro. (shown only in Philadelphia).

Bibliography

1978: Carmean, E.A., Jr. and Eliza E. Rathbone. American Art at Mid-Century: The Subjects of the Artist. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, 1978: fig.13.

1981: Waldman, D., Arshile Gorky, 1904-1948 : a retrospective. New York, 1981: 202.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 686, no. 1109, color repro.

1995: Arshile Gorky: The Breakthrough Years. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1995-1996: no. 38.

2001: A Century of Drawing. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002: no. 79.

2009: Taylor, Michael R. ed. Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art; Tate Modern, London, England; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2009-2010, no. 49.