Untitled

1941/1942

Mark Rothko

Associated Names
Mark Rothko

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

The image features rectangular sections stacked horizontally, each containing abstract shapes and lines. The top section displays green outline shapes resembling faces and tree-like figures on a green background. The middle section shows red line figures that resemble torsos on a pink backdrop. The bottom section displays swirling black and white forms that may resemble feet, hands, and drapery. The composition evokes interconnected and abstract human forms.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.

  • Dimensions

    overall: 61 × 81 cm (24 × 31 7/8 in.)
    framed: 71.12 × 91.12 × 8.26 cm (28 × 35 7/8 × 3 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1986.43.33

  • 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

1983

  • Mark Rothko: Subjects, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 1983-1984, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

1998

  • Mark Rothko, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1998-1999, no. 11 (NGA/WMAA cat.) and no. 7 (Paris cat.), repro.

2000

  • Mark Rothko and the Lure of the Figure: Paintings 1933-1946, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, 2000-2001, no. 10, repro.

2012

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

2013

  • Mark Rothko: Paintings from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie [National Museum], Warsaw, 2013, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1978

  • Carter, Malcom N. "Art, Money, and the Troubles of Mark Rothko." Horizon 21 (1978): 23, repro.

1989

  • Chave, Anna C. Mark Rothko: Subjects in Abstraction. New Haven, 1989: 136, repro.

1991

  • Grunenberg, Christoph. Mark Rothko. Washington, D.C., 1991: 7, fig. 4.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 293, repro.

1995

  • Sawin, Martica. Surrealism in Exile and the Beginning of the New York School. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1995: 300, repro.

1998

  • Anfam, David. Mark Rothko: The Works on Canvas: Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven and London, 1998: no. 189, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: Rothko; lower left reverse, sideways: M.ROTHKO; upper right reverse: MARK Rothko

Wikidata ID

Q20193341

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