Untitled (nude)

1937/1938

Mark Rothko

Associated Names
Mark Rothko

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

The artwork depicts a full-length view of a nude figure positioned with their back slightly turned toward the viewer, head turned to the side, and arms bent at the elbows. The figure has short hair and is standing in a room with brown and greenish walls and a brown floor. The lighting creates a soft, muted atmosphere, and the background has an abstract quality with a mix of earthy tones. The composition emphasizes the figure's form against the simple, textured background.
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On View

East Building, Tower Level, Gallery E615

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.

  • Dimensions

    overall: 60.7 x 46.1 cm (23 7/8 x 18 1/8 in.)
    framed: 66.2 x 53.2 x 5.1 cm (26 1/16 x 20 15/16 x 2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1986.43.115

  • 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

1978

  • Mark Rothko, 1903-1970: A Retrospective, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1978, no. 13.

1994

  • Against the Stream: Milton Avery, Adolph Gottlieb, and Mark Rothko in the 1930s, Katonah Museum of Art, New York, 1994, unnumbered checklist, pl. 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. 5 (NGA/WMAA cat.), repro. (shown only in Washington and New York).

2000

  • Mark Rothko and the Lure of the Figure: Paintings 1933-1946, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, 2000-2001, no. 4, repro.

2007

  • Perfection and Destruction, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2007-2008, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1988

  • Polcari, Stephen. "Mark Rothko: Heritage, Environment, and Tradition." Smithsonian Studies in American Art 2, no. 2 (1988): 36-37, repro.

1991

  • Polcari, Stephen. Abstract Expressionism and the Modern Experience. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1991: 121, repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 289, repro.

1994

  • "Avery, Gottlieb, Rothko Reunited in Katonah Exhibit." Scarsdale Inquirer (1994): 17, repro.

1998

  • Anfam, David. Mark Rothko: The Works on Canvas: Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven and London, 1998: no. 117, repro.

Inscriptions

lower center reverse: MARK ROTHKO

Wikidata ID

Q20193117

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