Arshile Gorky--Armenian-American Artist

Arshile Gorky fled with his sister Vartoosh to the United States in 1920 to escape the Genocide and its aftermath.� He was born Vosdanik Adoian in 1904 in the small village of Khorkom in the province of Van in Armenia.� His village was destroyed and his family was forced to flee to Yerevan during the Genocide.� His mother died of starvation.�

Shortly after arriving in the U.S., he changed his name to Arshile Gorky.� After spending a few years with family in Watertown, Massachusetts, he began to study and teach art in New York City in 1924.� He quickly became an influential artist best know for his abstract expressionist works that frequently explored the American countryside as surrealistic shapes and symbols.� His naturalistic, dreamy forms often float and dance to create a spectacular visual poetry.

In 1941 he married Agnes Magruder and had two daughters Maro born in 1943 and Natasha born in 1945.� His most productive years as an artist occurred after his marriage.� He died by his own hand in 1948 after suffering for some time from injuries received in a car accident and colon cancer. �Gorky survived much tragedy and left a legacy of important twentieth century artistic works.