Abstract Composition
c. 1944/1946
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
watercolor, pen and black ink, and brush and black ink over graphite on wove paper
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
Accession Number
1986.43.230
Art Historical Context
Mark Rothko's *Abstract Composition* (c. 1944/1946) marks an pivotal moment in the artist's evolution toward the monumental color fields for which he is renowned. during World War II, when Rothko was in his early 40s and immersed in New York's burgeoning avant-garde scene, this drawing on wove paper captures his shift from figurative surrealist-inspired works to pure abstraction. As a key figure in Abstract Expressionism, Rothko exploring emotional depth through non-representational forms, laying groundwork for his later spiritual, immersive canvases. The mixed-media technique—graphite underd...
About the Artist
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko (born Marcus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz, September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970) stands as one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century American art and a central pioneer of Abstract Expressionism. Born into a Jewish family in Dvinsk (now Daugavpils, Latvia), then part of the Russian Empire, Rothko's early life was marked by the fear and persecution faced by Jews in Tsarist Rus...