Underground Fantasy, c. 1940

Inscription

lower right: Rothko; upper center reverse: MARK ROTHKO / 193[?]

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.

Exhibition History

1941

The First Annual Exhibition of the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, Riverside Museum, New York, 1941, checklist no. 116.

1978

Mark Rothko, 1903-1970: A Retrospective, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1978, no. 20.

1987

Mark Rothko 1903-1970, The Tate Gallery, London; Fundación Juan March, Madrid; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 1987-1988, no. 4 (London catalogue), no. 3 (Cologne catalogue),as Subway, repros. (shown only in London and Cologne).

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 Musuem of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 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, PA, 1993.

1993

Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Salina Art Center, Kansas, 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, 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, 1994.

1994

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

1995

Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), San Diego Musuem of Art, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 1997.

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

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. 7, repro.

2011

Loan to display with permanent collection, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, 2011-2012.

2013

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

2014

Mark Rothko: Works from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague; Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center, South Korea, 2014-2015.

2015

Mark Rothko: A Retrospective, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2015-2016.

2019

Mark Rothko [German title: Mark Rothko: Dramaturg der Form], Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, 2019.

Bibliography

1979

Ashton, Dore. "Rothko's Passion." Art International 22 (1979): 8, repro.

1979

Cavaliere, Barbara. "Notes on Rothko." Flash Art 86/87 (1979): 32-38.

1979

Fujieda, Teruo. "Special Feature: Mark Rothko." Mizue 888 (1979): 46, repro.

1979

Schjeldahl, Peter. "Rothko and Belief." Art in America 67 (1979): 80, repro.

1983

Ashton, Dore. About Rothko. New York, 1983: 47, repro.

1983

Sandler, Irving. Mark Rothko: Paintings 1948-1969. Exh. cat. The Pace Gallery, 1983: 9, repro.

1983

Seitz, William C. Abstract Expressionist Painting in America. Rev. ed. of 1955 Ph.D. dissertation. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, 1983: 196, repro.

1984

Merritt, Robert. "Works on Paper Show Artist's Intimate Side." Richmond Times-Dispatch (1984): J-4, repro.

1987

Anfam, David. "Mark Rothko at the Tate Gallery." Art International 1 (1987): 96, repro.

1987

Berryman, Larry. "London: Mark Rothko 1903-1970." Arts Review 39 (1987): 449, repro.

1987

Lee, David. "Brush with Fame and Death." The Times (1987): 50, repro.

1987

Packer, William. "Sensations of Light." Financial Times (1987): 21, repro.

1987

Sewell, Brian. "A Fry's Eye View of Rothko." Evening Standard (1987): 20, repro.

1987

Stemp, Robin. "Mark Rothko at the Tate Gallery." The Artist 102 (1987): 32, 33, repro.

1988

Gross, Roland. "Ikonen und Gegenstandlichkeit." Der Tagesspiel (1988): 4, repro.

1988

Haase, Amine. "Farbe als Echo der reinen Empfindung." Kolner-Stadt-Anzeiger (1988): 37, repro.

1988

Harris, Jonathan. "Mark Rothko and the Development of American Modernism." The Oxford Art Journal 11 (1988): 40, repro.

1988

Ziermann, Horst. "Ikonen aus farbiger Glut." Kolnischer Rundschau 25 (1988): 9, repro.

1989

Chave, Anna C. Mark Rothko: Subjects in Abstraction. New Haven, 1989: 48, repro.

1990

Rexroat, Dee Ann. "National Rothko Exhibit Debuts in Cedar Rapids." Cedar Rapids Gazette (1990): 2W, repro.

1991

Patterson, Tom. "Stages: Exhibition Traces Development of Rothko's Art." Winston-Salem Journal (1991): C3, repro.

1992

American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 288, repro.

1993

Wood, Paul. Modernism in Dispute: Art Since the Forties. New Haven, 1993: 12, repro.

1994

Against the Stream: Avery, Gottlieb, and Rothko in the 1930's. Exh. cat. Katonah Museum of Art, New York, 1994: 20, repro.

1995

Regan, Margaret. "Mark Rothko in the Making." Tucson Weekly (1995): 31.

1996

Camper, Fred. "Art: Chasing Universals." Chicago Reader (23 February 1996): 27, repro.

1996

Turner, Jane, ed. The Dictionary of Art 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 27:220.

1997

Bonnetti. "Art." San Francisco Examiner (12 January 1997): repro.

1997

Cernuschi, Claude. "Not an Illustration but the Equivalent": A Cognitive Approach to Abstact Expressionism. Madison, 1997: 81, repro.

1997

Curtis, Cathy. "Exhibition Misses Its Mark." Los Angeles Times (1997): F1, F2.

1998

Anfam, David. Mark Rothko: The Works on Canvas: Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven and London, 1998: no. 174, repro.

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