Untitled
1945/1946
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 53.8 x 65.5 cm (21 3/16 x 25 13/16 in.) framed: 70 x 79.5 x 11.1 cm (27 9/16 x 31 5/16 x 4 3/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CMC
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
Accession Number
1986.43.103
Art Historical Context
Mark Rothko's *Untitled* (1945/1946), an oil on canvas measuring 53.8 x 65.5 cm, captures a pivotal moment in the artist's evolution. Created just after World War II, this work emerges from Rothko's early experimentation in New York, amid the rise of Abstract Expressionism. Oil on canvas allowed Rothko to build luminous layers of color and texture, foreshadowing his signature "multiform" abstractions—soft, organic shapes that evoke emotion rather than depict reality. At this stage, Rothko was shedding surrealist influences for a more intuitive, mythic style, influenced by ancient rituals and t...
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...