ARSHILE GORKY: THE LANGUAGE OF ART

Careful study of the complete early work of Arshile Gorky, his drawings, paintings, studies, letters and poetry can lead the astute observer to an understanding of his special dialect of the language of art and the forms and images that constitute its symbol system. That such a symbol system exists is now beyond question, but the prevailing sensibility of the early critics and scholars of abstract expressionism clouded the visibility of the symbols and closed their artist-intended channels of communication. Very recent scholarship has invoked the new esthetic of Realism to present Gorky\u27s symbols as specific, immutable observations of reality. What will emerge from this study is a visual language of symbols whose iconographic terrain lies somewhere in the middle of these two opposing previous readings. The symbols will be firm enough to be interpreted with reference to the real world yet not so absolute as to deny the artist and viewer the flexibility of associated meanings and content. These symbols will constitute the working elements of a visual language which is consistent and coherent from the early work of the twenties through to his death. Assumptions in the literature which divide his work into a series of unrelated periods are essentially the result of a lack of understanding of the meanings of these paintings. Like that of all artists, his work went through several stages of development before reaching maturity, but during all the stages there is discernable a consistent attention to content conveyed by personal symbol as well as painting considerations. This study primarily addresses the early years, 1925 through 1942, when Gorky was building his visual language and it centers on the themes of creativity in nature and in art. Gorky forged his symbols from a combination of reality perceived, rich memories, his Armenian heritage, art of the past and an aesthetic eye. The primary purpose of this symbol system was for the artist to communicate with the viewer, to explore his life experience and allow the viewer to experience it also. Gorky\u27s work, powerful, moving and beautiful, adds immeasurably to the broad spectrum of great and meaningful art