Arshile Gorky

Happy Birthday Arshile Gorky!! Born in Armenia, in 1904, Gorky was an Abstract Expressionist painter influenced by the Surrealist movement. Fleeing Europe prior to WWII, he came to America where he lived for the rest of his life. He became friends with Willem de Kooning, and trained himself by studying the work of other artists, Cubists (compositions) and Surrealists (ideas) in particular, developing his own style by 1940. He believed in an inner vision of artists, guiding their work unconsciously. His work is considered a bridge between European abstractions and American painting of the 40's and 50's. The painting I am including today is titled Enigmatic Combat.