Arshile Gorky original name Vosdanik Adoian (born April 15, 1904, Khorkom, Van, Turkish Armenia [now in Turkey]-died July 21, 1948, Sherman, Connecticut, U.S.), American painter, important as the direct link between the European Surrealist painters and the painters of the American Abstract Expressionist movement.
Gorky’s early life was disrupted when his father abandoned Turkey, his wife, and his family in order to avoid service in the Turkish army. The rest of the family soon fled to Armenia to escape Turkish persecution and were subsequently dispersed.