Book Review: Arshile Gorky’s New York in Image and Memory

Top: Untitled, after Ingres and Picasso's Lysistrata, ca. 1938-42. Gouache, ink, and graphite pencil on paper, 13 3/16 x 25 1/8 in., private collection. Bottom: Untitled, after Picasso's Lysistrata, ca. 1936-42. Gouache and graphite pencil on paper, 8 ¼ x 23 ¼ in., private collection, New York.

A two-panel image displays a preparatory sketch and a full-color mural study by Arshile Gorky, with mythological figures, classical garments and weapons set against an architectural backdrop, rendered in Gorky’s stylized, expressive forms.

“Arshile Gorky: New York City,” published by Hauser & Wirth, offers a vivid window into the artist’s lived experience of the city that shaped him—a place where he forged lasting friendships, held breakthrough exhibitions and created some of his most astonishing work.

Book Review: Arshile Gorky’s New York in Image and Memory