Sketchbook
1901 to 1925
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
sketchbook with 27 drawings on 20 sheets of paper
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
Accession Number
1986.56.644.1
Art Historical Context
Step into the early creative world of Mark Rothko this intimate *Sketchbook*, a collection of 27 drawings 20 sheets of paper 1901 to 1925. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's-W Department, this classified drawing offers a rare window into the formative years of an artist who would later redefine abstraction through his monumental color field paintings, evoking profound emotional depth with vast fields of shimmering hues. The sketchbook medium itself is a cornerstone of artistic practice, serving as a private laboratory for experimentation, observation, and skill-building. Created in the e...
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...