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Mark Rothko

Untitled (Seagram Mural sketch), 1959

East Building, Tower Level — Gallery 615-A

Medium

oil and acrylic on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 183.5 x 152.7 cm (72 1/4 x 60 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.

Accession Number

1985.38.2

Artists / Makers

Mark Rothko (painter) American, born Russia (now Latvia), 1903 - 1970

Image Use

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Copyright

Inscription

upper left reverse: MARK ROTHKO / 1959; reverse, on original vertical crossbar: 1959 / Mural / Sketch; reverse, on original horizontal crossbar: M.R.

Provenance

The artist [1903-1970]; his estate; consigned 1970 to (Marlborough Gallery, Inc., New York); transferred 1977 back to the artist's estate;[1] transferred 1979 to The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., New York; gift 1985 to NGA.

[1] For a detailed discussion of the transactions surrounding the Rothko estate see Lee Seldes, Legacy of Mark Rothko, New York, 1978.

Associated Names

Rothko Foundation, Inc., Mark, The

Exhibition History

1978: Mark Rothko: The 1958-1959 Murals, The Pace Gallery, New York, 1978, brochure, repro.

1989: Mark Rothko: Kaaba in New York, Kunsthalle Basel, 1989, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2003: Mark Rothko: The Mural Projects, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2003-2007.

2008: Rothko: The Late Series, Tate Modern, London; Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, Sakura-shi, Japan, 2008-2009, unnumbered checklist, repro. (Sakura only).

2012: The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection, The Getty Villa, Pacific Palisades; Cleveland Museum of Art; Musée des beaux-arts du Québec, 2012-2013, no. 40, repro. (shown only in Pacific Palisades and Cleveland).

2014: Mark Rothko: Works from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague; Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center, South Korea, 2014-2015, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2015: Mark Rothko: A Retrospective, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2015-2016, no. 44, repro.

2019: Mark Rothko [German title: Mark Rothko: Dramaturg der Form], Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, 2019, no. 32, repro.

Bibliography

1979: Ashton, Dore. "Rothko's Passion." Art International 22 (February 1979): 13, repro.

1984: Clearwater, Bonnie. Mark Rothko: Works on Paper. New York, 1984: 44, repro.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 322, repro., as Mural Sketch.

1998: Anfam, David. Mark Rothko: The Works on Canvas: Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven and London, 1998: no. 649, repro., as Mural Sketch [Seagram Mural Sketch].