Mannikin

Mannikin is a foundational lithograph created by Arshile Gorky in 1931, a critical year that marked the artist’s increasing engagement with Surrealist principles and biomorphic abstraction. Classified as a print, this work demonstrates Gorky’s mastery of the lithographic medium, requiring precision and control that contrast with the fluid, organic structures depicted within the composition.

The 1931 work, which focuses on fragmented or suggested dummy forms, belongs to a period when Gorky was synthesizing the influence of European masters like Picasso and Miró with his own emerging visual language. The tension between the rigid demands of the printmaking process and the elasticity of the abstracted forms is central to the piece. This tension allowed Gorky to establish a vocabulary of shape and line that would underpin his transition from early structured studies to the emotional depth of his later Abstract Expressionist paintings.

As a crucial figure in American modernism, Gorky played a pivotal role in bringing avant-garde aesthetics to the United States. The creation of these influential prints in the early 1930s solidifies his position as an artist dedicated to exploring abstraction across various media. While the subject matter of Mannikin remains enigmatic, the composition reveals a tightly controlled dynamism, foreshadowing the psychological intensity of his mature career.

The preservation of this important early print provides essential insight into the technical versatility of Gorky. The resulting prints from 1931 serve as key markers in the evolution of American abstract art. This significant piece is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where it underscores Gorky’s enduring contribution to 20th-century art history and the development of the American school.