Arshile Gorky:
Redrawing Community and Connections

About the Exhibition

Arshile Gorky (c. 1904–1948) played a pivotal role in shaping modern art in America. A self-taught painter, his work helped usher in Abstract Expressionism, the first internationally recognized American art movement and a lasting influence on artists worldwide. This exhibition focuses on Gorky’s relationships and sense of community, from his humble beginnings in Watertown as Vostanik Manoug Adoian to his later life as a celebrated artist.

Art was his way to connect, to rebuild after loss, and to create belonging in the wake of exile and the unacknowledged trauma of the Armenian Genocide. Through works shared by family, fellow artists, and members of the Armenian Diaspora, the exhibition reveals how connection shaped Gorky’s art and identity. His paintings, rooted in memory and renewal, show how he redrew what it meant to be an artist in America—by creating not only compositions, but community.

“As the first Armenian museum to host an exhibition of Arshile Gorky’s work, we are honored to share this remarkable collection with our members and visitors to the Museum,” commented Michele M. Kolligian, President of the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, MA.

“Gorky’s life and art reflect resilience, creativity, and the enduring power of community. This exhibition celebrates his extraordinary contributions to modern art and offers us an intimate look at the relationships and experiences that shaped him and his art.

“The entire Museum organization is filled with deep pride and excitement in being given the opportunity to present these rarely seen works and to invite visitors to engage with Gorky’s story in a meaningful way. We also extend our profound gratitude to the JHM Foundation for their sponsorship of this very special exhibition, and for their continued support of our mission.”

The exhibition is curated by Kim S. Theriault, PhD.

Sponsored by the JHM Charitable Foundation.

Artist Bio

Arshile Gorky (Vostanik Manoug Adoian, 1904–1948) was born in Khorkom, Van, (present-day Turkey). Fleeing the genocide that claimed the life of his mother, he immigrated to the United States as a teenage refugee in 1920. After four years with relatives in Watertown, Massachusetts, Gorky moved to New York City and changed his name in honor of the celebrated Russian poet. Refusing all categories, whether artistic or political, as necessarily reductive, Gorky forsook assimilation in favor of celebrating his otherness, becoming a central figure of the cultural milieu of a city on the brink of Modernism.

After a decade of working in New York, where he achieved a prominent position as a leading artist, Gorky initiated a series of studies and paintings observed from nature while on holiday in Connecticut first, and then over two summers at a farm in Virginia.  Frequently returning to fragmentary and idealized elements of his early life, Gorky incorporated memories from his childhood as well as his adult fears and desires, among the reality of his surroundings.

Curator Bio

Kim S. Theriault holds a Ph.D. in Modernist and Contemporary Art History from the University of Virginia and is Professor Emerita of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at Dominican University, as well as a part-time professor of art history at the University of Southern Maine in the Art Department.

She is the author of Rethinking Arshile Gorky, published by Penn State University Press, for which she received a Society for the Preservation of American Modernists publication grant. Dr. Theriault’s essay “Exile, Trauma, and Arshile Gorky’s The Artist and His Mother” was written for Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, a catalog published by Yale University Press, that accompanied the exhibition organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and that traveled to the Tate Modern in London and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.

She has lectured on Gorky at the Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal, and institutions such as Oxford University, the University of London, the University of Michigan, and the University of California at Los Angeles and Berkeley.

Continuing her exploration of how art negotiates trauma, memory, and identity, Dr. Theriault is writing The Vietnam Veterans Memorial and its Infusion into American Culture, Conscience, and Consciousness, a book building on her articles “Re-membering Vietnam: War, Trauma and ‘Scarring Over’ After “The Wall” and “Go Away Little Girl: Gender, Race, and Controversy in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.” Her scholarship on the memorial’s role in collective memory and further study of the intersections between place, the sacred, and the secular was supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminars Veterans in Society: Ambiguities and Representations and Revisiting Religion and Place in Light of Environmental, Legal, and Indigenous Studies.

In addition to her teaching and scholarship, Dr. Theriault has worked in galleries and museums, such as the Whistler House Museum of Art in nearby Lowell, written art criticism for newspapers, and acted as a critique consultant for artists. She has served as a board member for non-profits, juror for art exhibitions and publication award committees, and an independent curator. Arshile Gorky:Redrawing Community and Connections, has instigated a renewed approach to the artist for her and facilitated the basis for a new book.

About the Exhibition Designer

Ryann Casey is a New Jersey based artist, curator, and educator. Casey holds a BA in Photography with a minor in Gender Studies from Stockton University and an MFA/MS in Photography and Art History from Pratt Institute. She currently works as the Exhibitions Coordinator at the Stockton University Art Gallery and is an adjunct Professor of Photography, Art History and Critical Theory.

News

Artscope

Brian Goslow Highlights AMA's Gorky Exhibit in Artscope's Capsule Previews

Curated by Kim S. Theriault, author of Rethinking Arshile Gorky (Penn State University Press), "Arshile Gorky: Redrawing Community and Connections," on view through April 26 at the Armenian Museum of America, 65 Main St., Watertown, Massachusetts, brings the self-taught artist whose work "helped launch Abstract Expressionism and transform modern art in America" back home to where his story began. "The exhibition highlights Gorky's journey from his early life as Vostanik Manoug Adoian in Watertown to his emergence as a celebrated artist, emphasizing the relationships and sense of community that shaped his art. Through works shared by family, fellow artists, and the Armenian Diaspora, the exhibition reveals how Gorky used art to process loss, build connection, and redefine what it meant to be an artist in America creating not just compositions, but a lasting community."

Boston Globe

Boston Globe Recommends Arshile Gorky Exhibit As a Weekend Highlight

Arshile Gorky arrived in the United States in 1920 as a teenager, having survived the Armenian genocide in 1915 and then a dark period when his mother died of starvation. Arriving in Watertown, the young Gorky found his way to Boston’s New England School of Art in 1923, where his professional arc as a foundational member of Abstract Expressionism, the very first bonafide international art movement made in America, would begin.

“Arshile Gorky: Redrawing Community and Connections” at Watertown’s Armenian Museum of America, includes works made between 1923 to 1947, and a significant number of his early portraits--the artist’s attempt to capture the community in his new home that helped to make his shattered life more whole.

By Murray Whyte, Boston Globe

Armenian Weekly

Armenian Museum of America Announces Groundbreaking Arshile Gorky Exhibition in Watertown

WATERTOWN, Mass. — The Armenian Museum of America recently announced the opening of a landmark exhibition, Arshile Gorky: Redrawing Community and Connections, on December 12, 2025. This is the first exhibition of Gorky’s work in an Armenian museum, and it caps off a series of programs initiated by the “100 Years of Arshile Gorky” Committee in the City of Watertown.

The exhibition is curated by Kim S. Theriault, author of “Rethinking Arshile Gorky,” published by Penn State University Press, and it is sponsored by the JHM Charitable Foundation.

Watertown News

Armenian Museum Hosting Exhibition of Arshile Gorky’s Work, Many Never Shown Publicly

The Armenian Museum of America recently announced the opening of a landmark exhibition, Arshile Gorky: Redrawing Community and Connections, on December 12, 2025. This is the first exhibition of Gorky’s work in an Armenian museum, and it caps off a series of programs initiated by the “100 Years of Arshile Gorky” Committee in the City of Watertown.

The exhibition is curated by Kim S. Theriault, author of Rethinking Arshile Gorky published by
Penn State University Press, and it is sponsored by the JHM Charitable Foundation.

Asbarez

Armenian Museum of America Announces Groundbreaking Arshile Gorky Exhibition

WATERTOWN — The Armenian Museum of America recently announced the opening of a landmark exhibition, “Arshile Gorky: Redrawing Community and Connections.” Set to open on December 12, this is the first exhibition of Gorky’s work in an Armenian museum, and it caps off a series of programs initiated by the “100 Years of Arshile Gorky” Committee in the City of Watertown.

The exhibition is curated by Kim S. Theriault, author of “Rethinking Arshile Gorky” published by Penn State University Press, and it is sponsored by the JHM Charitable Foundation.

The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

Watertown’s Armenian Museum Presents Blockbuster Gorky Exhibition - The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

The opening night of December 11 was the first presentation of Arshile Gorky’s oeuvre by an Armenian museum. This exhibition is the culmination of various programs in Watertown commemorating “100 Years of Arshile Gorky,” as the artist had lived in Watertown for about four years after arriving in the US in 1920. Curated by Dr. Kim S. Theriault, the show is sponsored by the JHM Charitable Foundation.

While there have been many exhibitions of Gorky’s art over the years, one unique aspect of the current show is precisely the emphasis on Gorky’s local connection as well as his interactions with family, friends and other artists through his art. Furthermore, many of the 26 items in the exhibition have not been displayed publicly before, as they belong to various private collectors and institutions.

Armenian Museum of America

Groundbreaking Arshile Gorky Exhibition to Open on December 12

We are proud to announce the opening of a landmark exhibition, Arshile Gorky: Redrawing Community and Connections, on December 12, 2025. This is the first exhibition of Gorky’s work in an Armenian museum, and it caps off a series of programs initiated by the "100 Years of Arshile Gorky" Committee in the City of Watertown.

Acknowledgments

The Armenian Museum of America gratefully acknowledges the generous lenders and partners whose support made this exhibition possible. Their contributions of art, scholarship, and encouragement are deeply appreciated.

List of Lenders:

Aileen Agopian

Mark Ansorge

James and Claire Cecchi

DerKazarian Foundation

Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) 

Housatonic Museum of Art

Betty Krulik Fine Art

Raffi M. Manjikian

Melikian Family

Arman Muradyan

Blair and Paul Resika

Whitney Museum of American Art

Yale University Art Gallery

In addition, two anonymous collectors, and three works from the collection of the Armenian Museum of America generously donated by Andrea and Katherine Balian.