Arshile Gorky Biography
(A Leading American Painter of 20th Century and a Founding Father of 'Abstract Expressionism')
Birthday: April 15, 1904 (Aries)
Born In: Khorgom, Vilayet of Van, Ottoman Empire
Arshile Gorky was a talented Armenian born American painter who was regarded as the connection between American ‘Abstract Expressionist’ movement and the ‘European Surrealist’ themes in painting. He emigrated to the United States of America when he was young. Though he received very little formal training, he was predominantly a self- taught artist who was deeply influenced by various concepts and movements like Impressionism, Postimpressionism, Surrealism, Abstract expressionism, etc throughout his career. Several of his paintings contain abstractions that were regarded as memories from his childhood in Armenia. In the mid 1940’s, Arshile Gorky faced several personal tragedies including the destruction of his studio, surgery for rectal cancer, an automobile accident resulting in a brief period of paralysis and a disturbed married life. This led him to commit suicide. However, his works are believed to have made a strong impact on American art, and he is considered one among the most influential painters in America in the 20th century. His works are exhibited in almost all major museums of America such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, to name a few.