Birth of Cephalopods

1944

Mark Rothko

Painter, American, born Russia (now Latvia), 1903 - 1970

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.

  • Dimensions

    overall: 100.3 x 135.9 cm (39 1/2 x 53 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1986.43.22

  • Copyright

    Copyright © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist [1903-1970]; his estate; consigned 1970 to (Marlborough Gallery, Inc., New York); transferred 1977 back to the artist's estate;[1] transferred 1979 to The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., New York; gift 1986 to NGA.
[1] For a detailed discussion of the transactions surrounding the Rothko estate see Lee Seldes, Legacy of Mark Rothko, New York, 1978.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1945

  • Mark Rothko Paintings, Art of this Century, New York, 1945, no. 11.

1946

  • Oils and Watercolors by Mark Rothko, San Fransisco Museum of Art; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1946, no cat. (shown only in San Francisco).

1978

  • Mark Rothko, 1903-1970: A Retrospective, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1978-1979, no. 37, repro. (shown only in New York).

2012

  • Mark Rothko, Portland Art Museum, Oregon, 2012, no catalogue.

Bibliography

1948

  • "Mark Rothko: The Romantics Were Prompted." Possibilities 1 (1947/1948): 85, repro.

1951

  • Hess, Thomas B. Abstract Painting: Background and American Phase. New York, 1951: 151, repro.

1965

  • Alloway, Lawrence. "The Biomorphic Forties." Artforum 4 (1965): 18-22.

1983

  • Ashton, Dore. About Rothko. New York, 1983: fig. 2.

  • Seitz, William C. Abstract Expressionist Painting in America. Rev. ed. of 1955 Ph.D. dissertation. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, 1983: no. 200, repro.

  • Weiss, Jeffrey. "Science and Primitivism: A Fearful Symmetry in the Early New York School." Arts Magazine 57 (1983): 81, repro.

1984

  • Clearwater, Bonnie. Mark Rothko: Works on Paper. New York, 1984: 29, repro.

1989

  • Chave, Anna C. Mark Rothko: Subjects in Abstraction. New Haven, 1989: 67, repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 296, repro.

1995

  • Sawin, Martica. Surrealism in Exile and the Beginning of the New York School. Cambridge, 1995: 305, repro.

1998

  • Anfam, David. Mark Rothko: The Works on Canvas: Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven and London, 1998: no. 231, repro.

Inscriptions

upper left: MARK ROTHKO; upper right reverse: MARK ROTHKO / BIRTH OF CEPHALOPODS / 1944; upper left reverse, sideways: MARK Rothko

Wikidata ID

Q20193516

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