April 3, 2000
An admired outsider among the New York school of painters in the 1940s, Gorky (1902-1948) has long been a cipher as a person, in part due to his constant self-disguises. Born Manoug Adoian in Armenia, he survived the horrific 1915 massacre of Armenians by Turks, as well as subsequent famines, only to disguise his past once he reached America in the 1920s. Presenting himself as a cousin of the writer Maxim Gorky, he convinced friends he was Russian, despite his ignorance of that language. Now arts journalist Matossian (Iannis Xenakis) clears up a good part of the mystery, armed with a reading knowledge of Armenian that past writers have often lacked. Matossian proves that past sources on Gorky's life, such as letters published by a nephew, were forgeries. She probes deeply and without sentiment into the tragic life, which included a devastating studio fire, a colostomy after rectal cancer was diagnosed, followed by a broken neck in a car accident. These mishaps, along with his wife absconding with the "`bright and glib'" surrealist painter Matta, may have compelled Gorky to hang himself at age 46. At times, Gorky seems like an outsized fictional Armenian such as novelist William Saroyan might have created on his darkest day. Still, Matossian reveals lighter moments: in one, the artist-as-suitor pays clumsy compliments to one woman by exclaiming, "Oh, what charming little wrinkles you have around your eyes." Little space is devoted to describing the art, but by bringing us closer to Gorky the man, this book makes his life's tragedies all the more immediate and appalling.
December 1, 1999
One of the most influential painters of the New York School, Arshile Gorky zealously kept his true identity a secret from everyone throughout his sad life. When he hung himself in his studio in 1948, most of his intimates did not know that he wasn't the cousin of the Georgian writer Maksim Gorky, as he claimed, and that in fact he had spent his childhood in a Turkish Armenian village before fleeing the genocide of 1915-18. Tall and shaggy-haired, he personified the Marx Brothers-like stereotype of the histrionic and vaguely foreign artist. Yet he had enormous artistic talent, and although he was never a financial success he was mentor to many postwar painters, most notably Willem de Kooning. Matossian follows Gorky from the village of his birth to his lonely suicide 44 years later, concentrating less on his art than his oft-strained relationships with everyone else. Her generally limp chronological telling is enlivened by an occasional interesting disclosure, such as his plan (unrealized, alas) to camouflage the entirety of New York City during World War II. Matthew Spender's From a High Place (LJ 4/15/99), published earlier this year, is a far better biography of this fascinating subject.--Douglas F. Smith, Oakland P.L., CA
Copyright 1999 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
February 15, 2000
Long neglected by art historians, Gorky has been resurrected. Matthew Spender wrote the superb biography "From a High Place", and now Matossian, who shares Gorky's Armenian heritage, offers her compelling insights into Gorky's restless life and lyrical work in a narrative notable for its tenderness, lucidity, and psychological authority. She is particularly attuned to how "locked up memories" of his boyhood--the beauty of his homeland, his love for his mother, and the trauma of the Armenian genocide--surfaced so dramatically in his expressive creations. She also brings warmth and empathy to her account of his early years in the U.S. when he transformed himself from the Armenian refugee Manoug Adoian into a dashing Russian aristocrat. His virtuosic gifts, high energy (he would make 100 drawings a night), and charisma quickly earned him recognition both as a genius and a character, but heartache and illness took their toll. Matossian's close reading of his work and temperament makes it clear that Gorky will continue to inspire ardent appreciation and meticulous interpretation. ((Reviewed February 15, 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)