Large Woman Lying on Stomach, Head Resting on Left Arm
1901 to 1925
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
graphite on wove paper
Dimensions
overall: 21.3 x 27.7 cm (8 3/8 x 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
Accession Number
1986.56.123
Art Historical Context
In the intimate drawing *Large Woman Lying on Stomach Head Resting on Left Arm*, Mark Rothko captures a reclining female figure in a moment of quiet repose. Created with graphite on wove paper sometime between 1901 and 1925, this modest 21.3 x 27.7 cm work showcases the artist's early mastery of line and form. The soft, fluid strokes suggest a contemplative pose, with the woman's head cradled on her left arm, evoking and everyday humanity. Rothko, born in 1903 in present-day Latvia and later an immigrant to the United States, produced this during his formative years, long before his fame as a...
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...