Bernard Davis, Philadelphia
La France Institute, Philadelphia
Miami Museum of Modern Art, Florida (and sold: Parke–Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, November 24, 1962, lot 145)
Mrs. M. Victor Leventritt, New York ( acquired at the above sale and sold by the estate, Christie's, New York, March 16, 2006, lot 278)
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts Inc., Los Angeles
Acquired from the above in 2007

Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Collection of the La France Art Institute (The Bernard Davis Collection), 1934
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Arshile Gorky 1904-1948: A Retrospective, 1981, no. 22, illustrated in the catalogue

Jim Jordan & Robert Goldwater, The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue, New York, 1982, illustrated pl. 66

This work is in very good condition. The canvas is lined. The surface retains an incredibly richly textured impasto. There is some scattered cracking to the surface, one nailhead size paint loss to the bottom of the lemon towards lower right. One or two other pindots of paint loss in the light green pigment around the fruits. Under UV light: some scattered small spots of restoration are visible primarily around the perimeter of the work. Possibly one thin line of restoration in the dark red pigment at center left. Otherwise, fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Born in Armenia during a period of intense political and social upheaval, Gorky escaped the genocide by retreating to contemporary Turkey with his mother and young sisters before his mother tragically died of starvation in 1919. Gorky and his three sisters were left on their own to flee to Boston, where they were reunited with their father who had left Armenia in 1908 to avoid conscription. Gorky never forgave his father for abandoning them, and ultimately blamed him for his mother’s untimely death.

Though he studied briefly at the New School of Design in Boston and the National Academy of Design in New York, Gorky was predominantly self-taught. Augmenting this dearth of formal education through personal study, Gorky’s natural acumen was quickly recognized within the New York City arts community. Willem de Kooning remarked of meeting Gorky the year after he painted the present work, saying "I met a lot of artists—but then I met Arshile Gorky. I had some training in Holland…Gorky didn't have that at all. He came from no place; he came here when he was sixteen, from Tiflis in Georgia, with an Armenian upbringing. And for some mysterious reason, he knew lots more about painting and art—he just knew it by nature... He had an extraordinary gift for hitting the nail on the head; very remarkable. So I immediately attached myself to him and we became very good friends” (quoted in Debora Stewart, Abstract Art Painting: Expressions in Mixed Media, New York, 2015, p. 16).

The present work is a prime example of master American painter Stuart Davis’ 1931 charge that Gorky was “one of but few, who realized his canvas as a two-dimensional surface plane” (Stuart Davis, “A. Gorky” in Creative Art, no. 9, September 1931, p. 213). This Cubist reinterpretation of a classical still life is delicately rendered, for꧒eshadowing Gorky’s mature anthropomorphic Surrealist phase. A definitive touchstone within the artist’s trajectory, this painting stands as an exceptional example of this period in Gorky's career.