Gorky, Arshile (1904-1948)

Armenian-born US painter. He painted in several modernist styles before developing a semi-abstract surreal style, using organic shapes and vigorous brushwork. His works, such as The Liver Is the Cock's Comb (1944; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo), are noted for their sense of fantasy.

Among Gorky's major influences were Picasso, Kandinsky, Miró, and Cézanne, and he in turn influenced the emerging abstract expressionists. He lived in the USA from 1920.