Aquatic Drama
1946
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 92.1 x 122.2 cm (36 1/4 x 48 1/8 in.) framed: 100.7 x 131.1 x 9.5 cm (39 5/8 x 51 5/8 x 3 3/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CMC
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
Accession Number
1986.43.10
Art Historical Context
**Aquatic Drama** (1946) by Markko is a captivating oil on canvas measuring 92.1 x 122.2 cm, now housed in the National Gallery Art thanks to a generous gift from The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc. Created in the pivotal postwar years, this painting captures Rothko at a transitional moment in his career, his earlier figurative explorations with the abstract innovations that would define him. In 1946, Rothko was deeply engaged with Surrealism's influence within the emerging New York School, experimenting with dreamlike forms and mythic themes. The evocative title *Aquatic Drama* hints at an unde...
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...