GORKY IN LOWELL, A LIFE IN ABSTRACT
The Sun
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
September 17, 2009 Thursday
Massachusetts
Sep. 17–LOWELL — Like other artists on the rise, Arshile Gorky
dabbled in a variety of media and emulated contemporary artistic
greats. In Gorky’s case, his media ranged from crayon and pen and
ink to collage, oils, and even a sculpture or two. Paul Cezanne and
Pablo Picasso were the masters whose work he modeled.
Born Bosdanig Monoog Adoian, he assumed the name Gorky after the
Russian novelist. Art lovers can now discover 28 never-before or
rarely-seen works by Gorky at the Whistler House Museum of Art.
Drawings and Paintings by Arshile Gorky, the Mina Boehm Metzger
Collection opened with fanfare Sunday at a festive reception for
patrons in Whistler Park, adjacent to the museum, then continued in
the Parker Gallery, where the paintings, drawings, and a rare stone
sculpture were unveiled.
It opened to the public yesterday and runs through Nov. 7. A reception
is Saturday, 2-4 p.m.
Gorky, an Armenia native, born in 1904, survived the genocide by
the Ottoman Turks and held his mother in his arms as she died of
starvation. He immigrated to America in 1920 and embarked on a career
as an artist. His work was always tinged by an enduring sadness caused
by the tragedies he’d endured. Yet, he went on to become known as the
Father of American Abstract Expressionism, influencing many artists,
including Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.
"Gorky was an indisputable pioneer in American modern art," said
board member Sara Bogosian, who has chaired the Gorky-Mina Boehm
Metzger committee and done intense research into his art and life. The
collection is significant since it presents many of his earlier works
and traces his progression as an artist.
He and Metzger knew each other in New York in the 1930s, where she
studied with him, became his patron and collected these works.
The collection is a significant addition to the WHMA, which owns his
"Park Street Church, Boston (1924)," one of Gorky’s few remaining
works of that time. Catherine O’Donnell Murphy donated it to the
museum in 1976.
It was that contribution that sparked interest by owners of the Metzger
collection to see if the Whistler House would permanently house it.
"This wonderful collection is placed permanently on loan with us in
part because of her gift," said Whistler House Executive Director
Michael Lally.
Five years in the works, the acquisition involved trips to Connecticut
to see the collection, contracts, grants, restoration, conservation
and installation.
"This is an incredible moment for the Whistler House and the city of
Lowell," said board co-president Ryan Dunn.
But its significance is more far-reaching, said Melissa Kerr of the
Arshile Gorky Foundation.
"Historically, it is unusual to see original works from an early
patron in one place. Having the collection here is a wonderful asset
for art historians and students," she said.
Once the exhibit closes, Gorky works will be on view continuously in
a gallery in the main house.