Side View of Standing Nude, Turned to the Right, Hands Folded in Front
1901 to 1925
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
pen and black ink on wove paper
Dimensions
overall: 27.9 x 21.5 cm (11 x 8 7/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
Accession Number
1986.56.223
Art Historical Context
Mark Rothko's *Side View of Standing Nude, Turned to the Right, Hands Folded in Front* offers a rare glimpse into the artist's formative years. Created sometime between 1901 and 1925—spanning Rothko's childhood immigration from Russia to the United States his early artistic training—this pen and black ink drawing on wove paper measures a modest 27.9 x 21.5 cm. At a time when Rothko was honing fundamental skills, the work captures a poised female figure in profile, hands clasped demurely, emphasizing anatomical precision through fluid, economical lines. Unlike Rothko's later monumental color-f...
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...