Arshile Gorky (/ˌɑːrʃiːl ˈɡɔːrkiː/; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, Armenian: Ոստանիկ Մանուկ Ատոյեան; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian born American painter, who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent most his life as a national of the United States. Along with Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky has been hailed as one of the most powerful American painters of the 20th century. As such, his works were often speculated to have been informed by the suffering and loss he experienced of the Armenian Genocide.