Untitled

Artist: Mark Rothko, American (born Russia, present-day Latvia), 1903–1970
Date: 1944
Material: Watercolor, chalk, scraping, and graphite on paper
Classification: Drawings & watercolors
Collection: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
Current Location: Not on view
Dimensions: image: 16 5/8 x 21 3/4 in. (42.2 x 55.2 cm)
sheet: 17 13/16 x 23 11/16 in. (45.2 x 60.2 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
Rights: © Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY
Object Number: 23:1986

NOTES

This watercolor comes from Rothko’s surrealist period in the 1940s when he sought to find a visual imagery to represent the mysteries of the human unconscious. In the background, stick-like figures span the width of the work. An amoeba-like form marked by red lines and nodules sprawls across the center. These strangely juxtaposed elements reflect the artist’s interest in biology as well as the pictographic images of Native American art.

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