Arshile Gorky

Ottoman Empire · 1904–1948

Arshile Gorky ( AR-sheel GOR-kee; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, Armenian: Ոստանիկ Մանուկ Ատոյեան; April 15, 1904, July 21, 1948) was an Armenian-American painter. At first influenced by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Gorky's later work presaged and exerted a seminal influence on abstract expressionism. Along with Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Willem de Kooning, Gorky has been hailed as one of the most powerful American painters of the 20th century. Gorky's experience as a survivor of the Armenian genocide had a crucial influence on his work.