Long-haired Woman Seated with Left Leg Crossed and Hands on Ankle

Mark Rothko

1901 to 1925

Image not available — this artwork is under copyright

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Medium

brush and black ink on textured wove paper

Dimensions

overall: 25.3 x 20.3 cm (9 15/16 x 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

1986.56.307

Art Historical Context

This intimate drawing, *Long-haired Woman Seated Left Leg Crossed and on Ankle*, captures an early moment in Mark Rothko's. Created between 1901 and 1925—likely during his formative years after immigrating from Russia to the United States 1913—the work showcases the artist as a young figurative draftsman, long before his fame as a pioneer of abstract expressionism and color field painting. At just 25.3 x 20.3 cm, it's a modest scale perfect for personal study, now housed in the National Gallery of Art thanks to a gift from The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc. Rendered in brush and black ink on te...

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...

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