Study for Summation

Study for Summation is a critical work created by Arshile Gorky in 1946, demonstrating the artist’s mature transition toward Surrealist abstraction. Executed in pencil and crayon on paper, this drawing is fundamental to understanding Gorky's unique technical approach during this pivotal period in his career. The piece is characterized by dynamic, searching lines and biomorphic forms, reflecting the complex visual vocabulary that Gorky was developing as a key figure in the American art movement leading into Abstract Expressionism.

As a preliminary work, the drawing style of Study for Summation reveals Gorky’s mastery of line, using the pencil to establish structure and the crayon to introduce subtle, atmospheric color fields. These organic forms frequently suggest internal biological structures or submerged psychological landscapes, reflecting the profound influence of European Surrealism on the American avant-garde immediately following World War II. Gorky often treated his drawings as laboratories, using them to refine the motifs and compositional relationships that would anchor his larger canvases. This meticulous approach makes this 1946 piece invaluable for tracing the genesis of his major late-career compositions. The subtle yet frenetic energy captured in the lines prefigures the vibrant complexity found in related late works.

This significant drawing resides in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, where it serves as a cornerstone of their holdings of Abstract Expressionist forerunners. Although the original work is carefully safeguarded within the MoMA archives, the study's importance means that high-resolution images and prints are widely accessible for scholarship and appreciation. This availability ensures that the innovative techniques demonstrated by Gorky in this pivotal American drawing continue to influence contemporary artists and remain available to the public domain of art history study.