ARSHILE GORKY’S LETTERS PUBLISHED IN ARMENIAN
Armenpress
YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS: A collection of letters written by Arshile
Gorky in Armenian was released in Yerevan. The book contains some 40
letters in Armenian and their English translations.
Gorky was born Vosdanik Adoian in 1904 in Khorkom, Western Armenia (now
in Turkey). The artist’s childhood was marked by poignant suffering
and tragedy caused by the massacres of Armenians at the order of then
Turkish government. Gorky’s father fled to America in search of a new
life for his family. During this difficult time Gorky witnessed the
death of his mother by starvation. In 1915, Gorky escaped Turkish
massacres with thousands of others refugees. After his mother died
of famine, he headed for the US.
His whole life in the new country, which ended in suicide, consisted
of years of hard work and bitter struggle. Tragically enough, the
years in which his art was ascending to its greatest heights were
also the darkest in his life. His marriage was disintegrating;
he was operated on for colon cancer, and he lost many works in a
studio fire. The letters, full of nostalgia for his native home,
sufferings he experienced on his road to the USA are addressed to
his sister Varduhi. They were first published by Varduhi’s son-
Karlen Muradian-in English. They were also published in Portuguese
by Gyulbenkian Foundation.