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Untitled
summer
1944
Oil on canvas
167 x 178.2 cm
76.2553 PG 152 |
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Arshile
Gorky spent the greater part of 1944 in Hamilton,
Virginia, where he produced a large number of drawings,
many of which were conceived as preliminary studies
for paintings. This work is preceded by such a study,
that sets out its motifs, their ordering within the
composition, and the arrangement of color.
Gorky’s enthusiastic response to the natural surroundings
of rural Virginia infused his work with expressive freedom.
Landscape references appear in Untitled; though the
white ground is uniform, it is empty at the very top
of the canvas, suggesting a slice of sky, while the
“earth” below is replete with vegetal shapes
and floral colors. A clear gravitational sense is produced
by the dripping of paint thinned with turpentine, a
technique suggested by Matta.
The techniques and content of Surrealism influenced
the development of Gorky’s language of free, organic,
vitally curvilinear forms. In his emphasis on the autonomous
expressive potential of line, form, and color, Gorky
anticipated the concerns of Abstract Expressionism.
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