Untitled
1957
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 247.3 x 207.8 cm (97 3/8 x 81 13/16 in.) framed: 258.5 x 218.4 x 7 cm (101 3/4 x 86 x 2 3/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CMC
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
Accession Number
1986.43.141
Art Historical Context
Mark Rothko's *Untitled* (1957) is a monumental oil on canvas painting, measuring nearly 8 by 7 feet, that exemplifies the artist's mastery of Color Field painting within the Abstract Expressionist movement. Created during Rothko's mature period in the late 1950s, this large-scale work features his signature soft-edged rectangular forms floating against a hazy background, layered with translucent veils of color. The expansive dimensions invite viewers to immerse themselves, as Rothko intended, transforming the canvas into a portal for profound emotional and spiritual contemplation rather than ...
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...