Untitled (Écorché, After Pierre Puget)

Untitled (Écorché, After Pierre Puget) is a powerful pencil on paper drawing created by Arshile Gorky in 1932. This early American work provides critical insight into Gorky's academic foundations and his rigorous study of classical figuration before his full embrace of Abstract Expressionism later in the decade. Classified as a drawing, the work represents an écorché figure, a traditional subject used in art schools to master human anatomy by illustrating the muscle structure without the skin.

The title explicitly references the 17th-century Baroque sculptor Pierre Puget (1620-1694), suggesting Gorky was directly engaging with or copying a known anatomical study by the French master. This rigorous engagement with the canon was typical of Gorky's methodological approach during this period. Executed with precise, decisive pencil lines, the work demonstrates the artist's exceptional draftsmanship, focusing intently on the layered complexity and powerful tension of the muscular male torso. The shading is minimal, relying instead on contour lines and subtle cross-hatching to define volume and depth, making it a powerful testament to Gorky's control of the medium.

Created around c. 1932, this piece belongs to a significant transitional period for Gorky, where he synthesized influences ranging from Cézanne and Picasso to European Surrealism, all while maintaining a foundational rooting in established figurative study. This intense focus on the classical past contrasts sharply with the contemporary American trend toward purely non-objective art, marking Gorky as a pivotal figure bridging European modernism and nascent American abstraction. This foundational drawing, crucial for understanding the genesis of Gorky's later fluid abstractions, resides in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, underscoring its importance to 20th-century American modernism. High-quality prints of such works are highly valued for studying Gorky's foundational technique.