Skip to content
Artworks Biography Historical Photographs Chronology Museum Collections

Slideshow Thumbnails
Professional portrait of a three-quarter view of a young man in a wool suit

Gorky soon after his arrival in the United States, 1920. Unknown photographer.

Faded sepia photograph of a young man in a wool jacket holding a wool cap standing before a decrepit house

Gorky in Watertown, MA, c. early 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Faded sepia photograph of a young man in a suit holding a palette and two paint brushes

Gorky with palette, c. early 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Professional portrait of a three-quarter view of a young man in a wool suit with his arms crossed

Gorky in Watertown, MA, c. 1922. Unknown photographer.

Faded sepia photograph of a seated young man holding a palette, brushes, and other artist materials while painting a landscape al-fresco in a residential neighborhood

Gorky painting at his sister Akabi's house on Dexter Avenue in Watertown, MA, c. 1922. Unknown photographer. Gift of Gail Sarkissian.

Standing man with black hair in black pants, a white shirt, and a chain around his neck posing against a thin tree in a rocky park

Gorky as a young romantic in a park, c. 1924. Unknown photographer.

Sepia photograph of two males dressed in suits standing in the courtyard a large brick apartment building

Arshile Gorky and Stergis M. Stergis, c. 1925. Unknown photographer. Courtesy of the Family of Stephani Stergis Denker.

Sepia photograph of a male dressed in a suit standing on the sidewalk of a residential city street

Arshile Gorky, c. 1925. Photograph by Stergis M. Stergis. Courtesy of the Family of Stephani Stergis Denker.

Young man in a suit and tie holding a book and standing before an entrance to a tunnel in a park

Gorky, New York, 1926. Unknown photographer.

Male artist in a smock seen from behind painting a still life in the style of Paul Cezanne on an easel with artists supplies and objects

Gorky painting at his Sullivan Street studio, New York, c. 1927. Unknown photographer.

Three-quarter view portrait of a man in a suit and tie with slicked back hair and a mustache

Gorky, late 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Head of a man resting horizontally on a table

Gorky, late 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Standing man in a double breasted suit with his hands in his pockets posing in a yard

Gorky in Watertown, MA, c. late 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Three people in a yard dressed in formal wear posing, with the man in the middle with his arms wrapped around the women's shoulders

Gorky with Vartoosh (left) and Sirun Mussikian (right), Watertown, MA, c. late 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Black-and-white photograph of a man in a patterned sweater seated before a wall on which eight abstract ink drawings are hung

Gorky in his studio at 36 Union Square, c. 1933. Photograph by Alexander Sandow. Courtesy Estate of Helen and Alexander Sandow; Lisa Sandow Lyons and Greg Sandow, executors.

Two men, the central one wearing an ivy cap, wool suit jacket, and a patterned sweater, in a parade with a float

Gorky at the Artists Committee of Action protest, New York, October 27, 1934. Gorky and McNeil's float is visible behind Gorky's left shoulder. Photograph by Lou Block.

People in a parade with political floats walking down a New York City street with tall stone buildings

Gorky’s float for the demonstration organized by the Artists’ Committee of Action (behind a placard for the Artist’s Union), 27 October 1934. Unknown photographer, Art Front, January 1935.

Five men walking down a New York City street holding a float for a parade

Gorky’s float in the march of 27 October 1934. Unknown photographer, Art Front, January 1935.

Young man reclining in a studio, with his head resting on a block, near a mannequin with an abstract shape and behind him a detail of an abstract painting hanging on the wall

Gorky posing in his studio, c. 1935. Unknown photographer.

Young man in a studio hiding behind a mannequin with an abstract shape and behind him a detail of an abstract painting hanging on the wall

Gorky posing in his studio, c. 1935. Unknown photographer.

Black-and-white photograph of a man seen from behind in an artist's studio with a large window painting an abstract canvas on an easel

Gorky at work on Organization in his 36 Union Square, New York studio, c. 1935. Photograph by Wyatt Davis. Courtesy National Archives, photo no. 69-N-3179C. 

Man in a suit and tie in a gallery standing before two abstract ink drawings

Gorky giving a lecture at the Guild Art Gallery during his drawings exhibition, December 1935. Unknown photographer

Man in a smock looking into the camera leaning against a large wooden easel, behind him is a patterned couch with a painting atop, a radiator, and a wooden chair

Gorky in New York, c. 1935. Unknown photographer. Gift of the Estate of Anna Walinska.

Three-quarter view of a man with a mustache looking down

Gorky looking down, c. 1935. Photograph by Wyatt Davis. Courtesy of Joan Davis.

Man in dirty overalls on a step ladder painting a large abstract canvas panel suspended in a room

Gorky at work on Activities on the Field, his mural project for the Newark Airport, 1936. New York Federal Art Project. Photograph by Eisman.

Front-facing portrait of a man with a mustache wearing a suit and tie

Gorky, late 1930s. Unknown photographer.

Woman on a beach in a swimsuit sleeping on a towel with a man fondly gazing at her

Gorky and “Mougouch” (Agnes Magruder Gorky) on the beach in Cape May, NJ, September 1942. Photograph by John H. Magruder III.

Hay bale in a rural landscape with a barn, leafless trees, and a farmhouse in the distance

Crooked Run Farm (near Lincoln, VA), the property owned by Mougouch’s parents, Admiral and Mrs. John H. Magruder II, 1943. Unknown photographer.

Tea party with a women sitting cross-legged in an Adirondack chair talking to a man sitting in an Adirondack chair, gesturing, and holding an infant

Gorky with his daughter Maro, talking to his mother-in-law, Essie Magruder, Crooked Run Farm, summer 1943. Photograph by Agnes Magruder Gorky.

Man wearing a knitted wool vest sitting on a stool in a rural landscape drawing on a drawing board with tress and a farmhouse in the distance

Gorky drawing in a field at Crooked Run Farm, summer 1944. Photograph by Agnes Magruder Gorky.

Man holding his young daughter in front of a loaded pickup truck parked in front of a white Greek revival farmhouse with old trees

Gorky and Maro moving from Roxbury to Sherman, CT, September 1945. Photograph by Agnes Magruder Gorky.

Man in overalls and a white collared shirt sitting on the grass with a female toddler standing beside his left knee

Gorky with his daughter Natasha, 1946. Photograph by Agnes Magruder Gorky.

Man in a wool coat and knitted cap sitting on a park bench in New York City next to his young daughter

Gorky with Maro in Washington Square, New York, early 1946, shortly before his operation for cancer. Photograph by Agnes Magruder Gorky.

Two men sitting cross-legged in iron chairs leaning on a circular table on which there are papers for drawing

Gorky and Wifredo Lam, New York, 1946. Photograph by Irving Penn. © The Irving Penn Foundation.

Man with a mustache shirtless in a bathing suit sitting on a rocky beach with a female toddler standing by his left shoulder

Gorky and Natasha, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

Woman in a bathing suit with her hair wet reclining on a rocky beach, in the distance are a suitcase, wicker basket, and a seated young child seen from behind

Mougouch, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

Shirtless, seated man in a bathing suit on a beach with three children around him

Gorky with Maro, Natasha, and unknown child, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

Standing woman in a two-piece bathing suit posing on a rocky beach with one arm behind her back

Mougouch, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

Shirtless man in a bathing suit seated on a rocky beach with a small easel and painting beside him

Gorky with easel, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

Shirtless man in a bathing suit leaning against a fallen tree trunk on a beach with two young toddlers playing beside him

Gorky with Maro and Natasha, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer. 

Woman in a bathing suit sitting on a fallen tree trunk on the beach resting her head in her left hand

Mougouch, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

 

Five people smiling and posing with trees and part of the hood of a car in the background

Maria Martins, Marcel Duchamp, Mrs. Enrico Donati, Gorky, and Frederick Kiesler, 23 May 1948. Unknown photographer. Gift of Mrs. Enrico Donati.

Professional portrait of a three-quarter view of a young man in a wool suit

Gorky soon after his arrival in the United States, 1920. Unknown photographer.

Faded sepia photograph of a young man in a wool jacket holding a wool cap standing before a decrepit house

Gorky in Watertown, MA, c. early 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Faded sepia photograph of a young man in a suit holding a palette and two paint brushes

Gorky with palette, c. early 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Professional portrait of a three-quarter view of a young man in a wool suit with his arms crossed

Gorky in Watertown, MA, c. 1922. Unknown photographer.

Faded sepia photograph of a seated young man holding a palette, brushes, and other artist materials while painting a landscape al-fresco in a residential neighborhood

Gorky painting at his sister Akabi's house on Dexter Avenue in Watertown, MA, c. 1922. Unknown photographer. Gift of Gail Sarkissian.

Standing man with black hair in black pants, a white shirt, and a chain around his neck posing against a thin tree in a rocky park

Gorky as a young romantic in a park, c. 1924. Unknown photographer.

Sepia photograph of two males dressed in suits standing in the courtyard a large brick apartment building

Arshile Gorky and Stergis M. Stergis, c. 1925. Unknown photographer. Courtesy of the Family of Stephani Stergis Denker.

Sepia photograph of a male dressed in a suit standing on the sidewalk of a residential city street

Arshile Gorky, c. 1925. Photograph by Stergis M. Stergis. Courtesy of the Family of Stephani Stergis Denker.

Young man in a suit and tie holding a book and standing before an entrance to a tunnel in a park

Gorky, New York, 1926. Unknown photographer.

Male artist in a smock seen from behind painting a still life in the style of Paul Cezanne on an easel with artists supplies and objects

Gorky painting at his Sullivan Street studio, New York, c. 1927. Unknown photographer.

Three-quarter view portrait of a man in a suit and tie with slicked back hair and a mustache

Gorky, late 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Head of a man resting horizontally on a table

Gorky, late 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Standing man in a double breasted suit with his hands in his pockets posing in a yard

Gorky in Watertown, MA, c. late 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Three people in a yard dressed in formal wear posing, with the man in the middle with his arms wrapped around the women's shoulders

Gorky with Vartoosh (left) and Sirun Mussikian (right), Watertown, MA, c. late 1920s. Unknown photographer.

Black-and-white photograph of a man in a patterned sweater seated before a wall on which eight abstract ink drawings are hung

Gorky in his studio at 36 Union Square, c. 1933. Photograph by Alexander Sandow. Courtesy Estate of Helen and Alexander Sandow; Lisa Sandow Lyons and Greg Sandow, executors.

Two men, the central one wearing an ivy cap, wool suit jacket, and a patterned sweater, in a parade with a float

Gorky at the Artists Committee of Action protest, New York, October 27, 1934. Gorky and McNeil's float is visible behind Gorky's left shoulder. Photograph by Lou Block.

People in a parade with political floats walking down a New York City street with tall stone buildings

Gorky’s float for the demonstration organized by the Artists’ Committee of Action (behind a placard for the Artist’s Union), 27 October 1934. Unknown photographer, Art Front, January 1935.

Five men walking down a New York City street holding a float for a parade

Gorky’s float in the march of 27 October 1934. Unknown photographer, Art Front, January 1935.

Young man reclining in a studio, with his head resting on a block, near a mannequin with an abstract shape and behind him a detail of an abstract painting hanging on the wall

Gorky posing in his studio, c. 1935. Unknown photographer.

Young man in a studio hiding behind a mannequin with an abstract shape and behind him a detail of an abstract painting hanging on the wall

Gorky posing in his studio, c. 1935. Unknown photographer.

Black-and-white photograph of a man seen from behind in an artist's studio with a large window painting an abstract canvas on an easel

Gorky at work on Organization in his 36 Union Square, New York studio, c. 1935. Photograph by Wyatt Davis. Courtesy National Archives, photo no. 69-N-3179C. 

Man in a suit and tie in a gallery standing before two abstract ink drawings

Gorky giving a lecture at the Guild Art Gallery during his drawings exhibition, December 1935. Unknown photographer

Man in a smock looking into the camera leaning against a large wooden easel, behind him is a patterned couch with a painting atop, a radiator, and a wooden chair

Gorky in New York, c. 1935. Unknown photographer. Gift of the Estate of Anna Walinska.

Three-quarter view of a man with a mustache looking down

Gorky looking down, c. 1935. Photograph by Wyatt Davis. Courtesy of Joan Davis.

Man in dirty overalls on a step ladder painting a large abstract canvas panel suspended in a room

Gorky at work on Activities on the Field, his mural project for the Newark Airport, 1936. New York Federal Art Project. Photograph by Eisman.

Front-facing portrait of a man with a mustache wearing a suit and tie

Gorky, late 1930s. Unknown photographer.

Woman on a beach in a swimsuit sleeping on a towel with a man fondly gazing at her

Gorky and “Mougouch” (Agnes Magruder Gorky) on the beach in Cape May, NJ, September 1942. Photograph by John H. Magruder III.

Hay bale in a rural landscape with a barn, leafless trees, and a farmhouse in the distance

Crooked Run Farm (near Lincoln, VA), the property owned by Mougouch’s parents, Admiral and Mrs. John H. Magruder II, 1943. Unknown photographer.

Tea party with a women sitting cross-legged in an Adirondack chair talking to a man sitting in an Adirondack chair, gesturing, and holding an infant

Gorky with his daughter Maro, talking to his mother-in-law, Essie Magruder, Crooked Run Farm, summer 1943. Photograph by Agnes Magruder Gorky.

Man wearing a knitted wool vest sitting on a stool in a rural landscape drawing on a drawing board with tress and a farmhouse in the distance

Gorky drawing in a field at Crooked Run Farm, summer 1944. Photograph by Agnes Magruder Gorky.

Man holding his young daughter in front of a loaded pickup truck parked in front of a white Greek revival farmhouse with old trees

Gorky and Maro moving from Roxbury to Sherman, CT, September 1945. Photograph by Agnes Magruder Gorky.

Man in overalls and a white collared shirt sitting on the grass with a female toddler standing beside his left knee

Gorky with his daughter Natasha, 1946. Photograph by Agnes Magruder Gorky.

Man in a wool coat and knitted cap sitting on a park bench in New York City next to his young daughter

Gorky with Maro in Washington Square, New York, early 1946, shortly before his operation for cancer. Photograph by Agnes Magruder Gorky.

Two men sitting cross-legged in iron chairs leaning on a circular table on which there are papers for drawing

Gorky and Wifredo Lam, New York, 1946. Photograph by Irving Penn. © The Irving Penn Foundation.

Man with a mustache shirtless in a bathing suit sitting on a rocky beach with a female toddler standing by his left shoulder

Gorky and Natasha, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

Woman in a bathing suit with her hair wet reclining on a rocky beach, in the distance are a suitcase, wicker basket, and a seated young child seen from behind

Mougouch, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

Shirtless, seated man in a bathing suit on a beach with three children around him

Gorky with Maro, Natasha, and unknown child, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

Standing woman in a two-piece bathing suit posing on a rocky beach with one arm behind her back

Mougouch, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

Shirtless man in a bathing suit seated on a rocky beach with a small easel and painting beside him

Gorky with easel, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

Shirtless man in a bathing suit leaning against a fallen tree trunk on a beach with two young toddlers playing beside him

Gorky with Maro and Natasha, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer. 

Woman in a bathing suit sitting on a fallen tree trunk on the beach resting her head in her left hand

Mougouch, Castine, ME, summer 1947. Unknown photographer.

 

Five people smiling and posing with trees and part of the hood of a car in the background

Maria Martins, Marcel Duchamp, Mrs. Enrico Donati, Gorky, and Frederick Kiesler, 23 May 1948. Unknown photographer. Gift of Mrs. Enrico Donati.

Back To Top