Untitled

1944/1945

Mark Rothko

Associated Names
Mark Rothko

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

The image displays swirling lines and geometric shapes in various colors. Curved lines in blue, red, and black intersect with gray and yellow backgrounds. Angular elements and textured surfaces with small dotted patterns are also present.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    watercolor, ink, and graphite on watercolor paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 55.4 × 68.9 cm (21 13/16 × 27 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1986.43.221

  • Copyright

    Copyright © 2005 Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Estate of the artist, 1970; Marlborough Gallery, Inc., New York, 1970; Estate of the artist, 1977; The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., New York, 1979; gift to the NGA, 1986.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1984

  • Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Milwaukee Art Museum; Portland Art Museum, OR; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Fort Worth Art Museum, 1984-1986, no. 12.

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. 21 (NGA/WMAA cat.), repro. (shown only in Washington and New York).

2001

  • A Century of Drawing: Works on Paper from Degas to LeWitt, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2001-2002, no. 76.

2005

  • Surrealism USA, National Academy of Design, New York, 2005, no. 88.

2026

  • Rothko in Florence, Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 2026, cat. no. 12, repro.

Bibliography

1984

  • Clearwater, Bonnie. Mark Rothko: Works on Paper. Exh. cat. American Federation of Arts touring exhibition. New York, 1984: cat. 12.

  • Russell, Marilyn Miller. "Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, the Late Style Reconsidered." Carnegie Magazine 57, no. 6 (November/December 1987): 34.

1986

  • Leonard, Michael. "A Search for Spiritual Essence." Artweek (June 14, 1986): 3.

  • Blinken, Donald, et al. Eliminating the Obstacles Between the Painter and the Observer: The Mark Rothko Foundation. New York, 1986: 46.

1989

  • A Profile of the East Building: Ten Years at the National Gallery of Art, 1978 - 1988. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1989, 178.

1998

  • Weiss, Jeffrey, ed. Mark Rothko. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998: no. 21.

2001

  • A Century of Drawing. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002: no. 76.

2003

  • Ashton, Dore. Mark Rothko. Exh. cat. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2003, 14.

2012

  • Anfam, David. "Rothko in the 1940s: Of Time and Tide." In Mark Rothko: The Decisive Decade, 1940 - 1950, edited by Bradford R. Collins. Exh. cat. Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC, 2012: 81-82, fig. 15.

2016

  • National Gallery of Art. Highlights from the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Washington, 2016: 308, repro.

2026

  • Geuna, Elena, and Rothko, Christopher, editors. Rothko: In Florence. Exh. cat. Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 2026: 74, cat. no. 12.

Inscriptions

lower right in black paint: MARK ROTHKO; verso in black crayon: MARK ROTHKO

Watermarks

Whatman: ND MADE J WHATMAN 193(9,0?) ENGLAND B

Wikidata ID

Q64595512

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