Artwork Replica The Artist with His Mother, 1936 by Arshile Gorky (1904-1948, Turkey) | WahooArt.com

Arshile Gorky (i) - 1936 - Post-Impressionism (i) The inspiration for his painting The Artist with His Mother is a photograph of the artist and his own mother. After years of dealing with the trauma of war, protests and the death of his mother, Gorky migrated to the United States and reunited with his father. It would take Arshile Gorky almost two decades to complete this painting. The horrifying social context that the painting brings out about the Armenian Genocide, can be seen through the expressiveness in the features of the painted characters. The artist paid very close attention to the eyes. Their hardships and trauma are clearly seen through their empty stares and the cold and numb expressions on their faces. Even if one has no knowledge of the painting’s back story, sadness and loss can be seen if one looks at it carefully. It is the solemn expressions on both the child and mother’s faces that speak out about the sadness that haunts them and millions of other Armenians at the time. Gorky paints his mother in a manner that gives her a look resembling that of a statue, still and eternal - his mother is dead but she lives on in his memories.