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Mark Rothko

The Source, 1945/1946

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 100.8 x 71.1 cm (39 11/16 x 28 in.)

framed: 110.8 x 81.3 x 7.6 cm (43 5/8 x 32 x 3 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.

Accession Number

1986.43.69

Artists / Makers

Mark Rothko (painter) American, born Russia (now Latvia), 1903 - 1970

Image Use

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Copyright

Inscription

lower right reverse: MARK ROTHKO

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

Rothko Foundation, Inc., Mark, The

Exhibition History

1947: Mark Rothko: Recent Paintings, Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, 1947, no. 1.

1978: Mark Rothko, 1903-1970: A Retrospective, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1978, no. 57 (shown only in New York).

1990: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, 1990-1991.

1991: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, New York, 1991.

1992: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, Savannah, 1992.

1993: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, March-May 1993.

1993: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Payne Gallery, Moravian College, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, January-February 1993.

1993: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Salina Art Center, Kansas, August-October 1993.

1994: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Ball State University Museum of Art, Muncie, Indiana, April-May 1994.

1994: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Marsh Gallery, University of Richmond, Virginia, August-September 1994.

1994: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, February-March 1994.

1994: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), West Bend Gallery of Fine Arts, Wisconsin, June-July 1994.

1995: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), San Diego Museum of Art, March-May 1995.

1995: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, January-February 1995.

1996: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Lore Degenstein Gallery, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, September-October 1996.

1996: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Palm Springs Desert Museum, California, 1996-1997.

1996: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), St. John's Museum of Art, Wilmington, North Carolina, June-August 1996.

1996: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), The Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, January-March 1996.

1997: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary's College of California, Moraga, January-March 1997.

1997: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Midland Center for the Arts, Michigan, September-November 1997.

1997: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California, June-September 1997.

1997: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, April-June 1997.

1998: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, 1998.

2002: The Tiger's Eye: the Art of a Magazine, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 2002, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2003: Mark Rothko: A Centennial Celebration, State Museum of Art, Riga; State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, 2003-2004, unnumbered brochure.

2005: The Art of Mark Rothko: Selections from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Museo de Arte Moderna, Mexico City; Hong Kong Museum of Art; Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, 2005-2006, brochures, no. 11, repro.

2007: Be-Bomb: The Transatlantic War of Images and all that Jazz. 1946-1956, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 2007-2008, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2009: Extended loan for use by Secretary Shaun Donovan, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C., 2009-2014 (with two temporary returns to NGA).

2014: Extended loan for use by Director Shaun Donovan, U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C., 2014-2016.

Bibliography

1947: The Tiger's Eye 1 (1947): 71, repro.

1948: "Mark Rothko: The Romantics Were Prompted." Possibilities 1 (1947/1948): 86, repro.

1949: MacAgy, Douglas. "Mark Rothko." Magazine of Art 42 (1949): 21, repro.

1983: Seitz, William C. Abstract Expressionist Painting in America. Rev. ed. of 1955 Ph.D. dissertation. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, 1983: no. 208, repro.

1989: Barnes, Susan J. The Rothko Chapel: An Act of Faith. Austin, 1989: 22, repro.

1990: Gibson, Ann Eden. Issues in Abstract Expressionism: The Artist-Run Periodicals. Ann Arbour, 1990: 261, repro.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 306, repro. (repro. is incorrectly inverted, showing top of painting as the bottom).

1994: Smith, Roberta. "For Rothko, It Wasn't All Black Despair." New York Times (1994): H41, repro.

1995: Lowe, Charlotte. "Track Rothko's Artistic Growth." Tucson Citizen (1995): 15, repro.

1997: Baker, Kenneth. "Rothko's Maturing Symbology." San Fransisco Chronicle (1997): B1, repro.

1998: Anfam, David. Mark Rothko: The Works on Canvas: Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven and London, 1998: no. 287, repro.