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.

Members’ Holiday Reception & Exclusive Preview of Arshile Gorky: Redrawing Community and Connections

Experience an unforgettable evening filled with art, community, and celebration with festive fare, holiday cheer, and live music.

Experience an unforgettable evening celebrating our newest exhibition, Arshile Gorky: Redrawing Community and Connections. Enjoy an enchanting evening as we celebrate the holiday season and the opening of our newest exhibition, Arshile Gorky: Redrawing Community and Connections. This landmark exhibition explores Gorky’s artistic evolution and his pivotal role in shaping modern art in America during the first half of the twentieth century. Featuring rarely seen and unconventional works, it reveals how the immigrant Gorky forged a new life and a groundbreaking artistic vision in the wake of exile and loss.

This event is exclusive to current members only. Kindly RSVP by December 1.

RSVP’s and memberships will not be processed after this date for the opening night.

If you are unsure of your membership status, please call prior to the RSVP date. For planning purposes, memberships will not be processed the night of the event.

The member’s holiday reception and exclusive preview event is at capacity. Please visit the exhibit any time from December 12 through April 26.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.