Arts & Culture special pullout section - Armenian Reporter
Arts & Culture special pullout section - Armenian Reporter
Arts & Culture special pullout section - Armenian Reporter
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Arshile Gorky, Composition, c.1946, oil on canvas. Gerard L. Cafesjian Collection.<br />
Arshile Gorky: Selections from the Private<br />
Collection of Gerard L. Cafesjian<br />
Eagle Hall<br />
An <strong>Armenian</strong> immigrant who<br />
arrived in the United States in<br />
1920 at the age of 15, Arshile<br />
Gorky was once called a “hero<br />
of Abstract Expressionism.” Unlike<br />
his contemporaries, Gorky<br />
possessed a demanding, methodical<br />
approach to the earliest<br />
stages of a work’s formation.<br />
The many preliminary drawings<br />
and oil sketches in this exhibition<br />
– all from the Gerard L.<br />
Cafesjian Collection – provide<br />
unparalleled insight into this<br />
neglected area of Gorky’s working<br />
method. Emphasizing the<br />
preparatory stages of a work’s<br />
evolution, he resisted the subconscious<br />
flow of ideas and subscribed<br />
to a more traditional and<br />
disciplined regimen. Executing<br />
a large number of sketches that<br />
were continuously reworked<br />
and rearranged, Gorky rendered<br />
complex, large-scale compositions<br />
of cohesive design and<br />
universal theme that continue<br />
to be viewed as some of the finest<br />
examples of American art at<br />
mid-century.<br />
f<br />
Gohar Sarkisian, center, wife of Armenia’s prime minister, at the Arshile Gorky exhibit. Photos: Mkhitar Khachatryan.<br />
Study for Aviation Murals (Newark Airport, South Wall), circa 1935–1936, graphite<br />
on paper, 43 x 55 cm, Gerard L. Cafesjian Collection.<br />
Michael De<br />
Marsche<br />
discusses the<br />
Arshile Gorky<br />
exhibit with<br />
visitors. He is<br />
the executive<br />
director of the<br />
Cafesjian Center<br />
for the <strong>Arts</strong>.<br />
C6 <strong>Armenian</strong> <strong>Reporter</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> & <strong>Culture</strong> | November 14, 2009