Untitled
1955
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 267.97 × 236.2 × 5.08 cm (105 1/2 × 93 × 2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CMC
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art
Accession Number
1992.51.14
Art Historical Context
Mark Rothko's *Untitled* (1955) exemplifies the artist's profound contribution to Abstract Expressionism, particularly the Color Field movement. Created during Rothko's mature period in the1950s, this large-scale oil on canvas—measuring over 8 by 7 feet—immerses viewers in vast, floating rectangles of color. Rothko sought to evoke deep emotional and spiritual responses, moving beyond representation to pure chromatic experience. The work's monumental size, typical of his oeuvre, invites contemplation, transforming the canvas into a window on the sublime. Rothko's technique involved layering th...
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...