Untitled (head)
1938/1941
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 40.7 x 51.1 cm (16 x 20 1/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CMC
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
Accession Number
1986.43.110
Art Historical Context
Mark Rothko's *Untitled (head)*, between 1938 and1941, offers a captivating glimpse into the artist's early career. This intimate oil on canvas painting, measuring 40.7 x 51.1 cm, focuses on the human head—a motif that reflects Rothko's initial forays into figurative expression before his iconic abstract color fields. At the time, Rothko, a Latvian-born immigrant who settled in New York, was navigating the vibrant American art scene amid the Great Depression, often drawing from urban life and psychological depth. Painted in oil, a versatile medium favored for its rich textures and luminous ef...
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...