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Six stylized, elongated, thin men and women stand spaced across a shallow platform in front of a cream-colored wall under a ceiling supported by two columns in this horizontal painting. The overall color palette is dominated by white, tan, light steel blue, and pale blush pink. Most of the people have smooth, ivory-white skin but one man, to our left of center, has light brown skin. He stands facing us wearing an ash-brown suit with a white shirt, a tie, and a brown fedora hat. He looks down at the open newspaper he holds in front of him. The four women wear dresses or skirts to just below the knee with high heeled, black pumps. Some wear coats and hats. To our left of the man with the newspaper, a woman takes a step on spindly feet so she faces our right in profile, arms down by her sides. One woman stands against one of the columns to our right and another, wearing a sky-blue dress and hat, stands next to the other column alongside a man wearing a charcoal-gray suit. A slate-blue, oval medallion with a white letter B at the center hangs on our wall to our left. The floor under the people is cotton candy-pink farther away from us, beyond a band of smoke gray along the bottom edge of the canvas. The artist's name, "Rothko," is painted in smudged black letters in the lower right corner.

Mark Rothko

Underground Fantasy, c. 1940

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 87.3 × 118.2 cm (34 3/8 × 46 9/16 in.)

framed: 96.84 × 127.95 × 8.26 cm (38 1/8 × 50 3/8 × 3 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.

Accession Number

1986.43.130

Artists / Makers

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

Image Use

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Copyright

Inscription

lower right: Rothko; upper center reverse: MARK ROTHKO / 193[?]

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 1986 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

1941: The First Annual Exhibition of the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, Riverside Museum, New York, 1941, checklist no. 116.

1978: Mark Rothko, 1903-1970: A Retrospective, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1978, no. 20.

1987: Mark Rothko 1903-1970, The Tate Gallery, London; Fundación Juan March, Madrid; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 1987-1988, no. 4 (London catalogue), no. 3 (Cologne catalogue),as Subway, repros. (shown only in London and Cologne).

1990: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, 1990-1991.

1991: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, New York, 1991.

1992: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, Savannah, 1992.

1993: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Art Musuem of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 1993.

1993: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Payne Gallery, Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA, 1993.

1993: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Salina Art Center, Kansas, 1993.

1994: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Ball State University Museum of Art, Muncie, Indiana, 1994.

1994: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Marsh Gallery, University of Richmond, Virginia, 1994.

1994: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Wallach Art Gallery, New York, NY, 1994.

1994: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), West Bend Gallery of Fine Arts, Wisconsin, 1994.

1995: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), San Diego Musuem of Art, 1995.

1995: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, 1995.

1996: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Lore Degenstein Gallery, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, 1996.

1996: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Palm Springs Desert Museum, California, 1996-1997.

1996: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), St. John's Museum of Art, Wilmington, North Carolina, 1996.

1996: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), The Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, 1996.

1997: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary's College of California, Moraga, 1997.

1997: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Midland Center for the Arts, Michigan, 1997.

1997: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California, 1997.

1997: Mark Rothko: The Spirit of Myth, Early Paintings from the 1930s and 1940s (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 1997.

1998: Mark Rothko, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1998-1999, no. 10 (NGA/WMAA cat.), repro. (shown only in Washington and New York).

2003: Mark Rothko: A Centennial Celebration, State Museum of Art, Riga; State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, 2003-2004, unnumbered brochure.

2005: The Art of Mark Rothko: Selections from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Museo de Arte Moderna, Mexico City; Hong Kong Museum of Art; Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, 2005-2006, brochures, no. 7, repro.

2011: Loan to display with permanent collection, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, 2011-2012.

2013: Mark Rothko: Paintings from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie [National Museum], Warsaw, 2013, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

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. 4, repro.

2019: Mark Rothko [German title: Mark Rothko: Dramaturg der Form], Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, 2019, no. 11, repro.

Bibliography

1979: Ashton, Dore. "Rothko's Passion." Art International 22 (1979): 8, repro.

1979: Cavaliere, Barbara. "Notes on Rothko." Flash Art 86/87 (1979): 32-38.

1979: Fujieda, Teruo. "Special Feature: Mark Rothko." Mizue 888 (1979): 46, repro.

1979: Schjeldahl, Peter. "Rothko and Belief." Art in America 67 (1979): 80, repro.

1983: Ashton, Dore. About Rothko. New York, 1983: 47, repro.

1983: Sandler, Irving. Mark Rothko: Paintings 1948-1969. Exh. cat. The Pace Gallery, 1983: 9, repro.

1983: Seitz, William C. Abstract Expressionist Painting in America. Rev. ed. of 1955 Ph.D. dissertation. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, 1983: 196, repro.

1984: Merritt, Robert. "Works on Paper Show Artist's Intimate Side." Richmond Times-Dispatch (1984): J-4, repro.

1987: Anfam, David. "Mark Rothko at the Tate Gallery." Art International 1 (1987): 96, repro.

1987: Berryman, Larry. "London: Mark Rothko 1903-1970." Arts Review 39 (1987): 449, repro.

1987: Lee, David. "Brush with Fame and Death." The Times (1987): 50, repro.

1987: Packer, William. "Sensations of Light." Financial Times (1987): 21, repro.

1987: Sewell, Brian. "A Fry's Eye View of Rothko." Evening Standard (1987): 20, repro.

1987: Stemp, Robin. "Mark Rothko at the Tate Gallery." The Artist 102 (1987): 32, 33, repro.

1988: Gross, Roland. "Ikonen und Gegenstandlichkeit." Der Tagesspiel (1988): 4, repro.

1988: Haase, Amine. "Farbe als Echo der reinen Empfindung." Kolner-Stadt-Anzeiger (1988): 37, repro.

1988: Harris, Jonathan. "Mark Rothko and the Development of American Modernism." The Oxford Art Journal 11 (1988): 40, repro.

1988: Ziermann, Horst. "Ikonen aus farbiger Glut." Kolnischer Rundschau 25 (1988): 9, repro.

1989: Chave, Anna C. Mark Rothko: Subjects in Abstraction. New Haven, 1989: 48, repro.

1990: Rexroat, Dee Ann. "National Rothko Exhibit Debuts in Cedar Rapids." Cedar Rapids Gazette (1990): 2W, repro.

1991: Patterson, Tom. "Stages: Exhibition Traces Development of Rothko's Art." Winston-Salem Journal (1991): C3, repro.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 288, repro.

1993: Wood, Paul. Modernism in Dispute: Art Since the Forties. New Haven, 1993: 12, repro.

1994: Against the Stream: Avery, Gottlieb, and Rothko in the 1930's. Exh. cat. Katonah Museum of Art, New York, 1994: 20, repro.

1995: Regan, Margaret. "Mark Rothko in the Making." Tucson Weekly (1995): 31.

1996: Camper, Fred. "Art: Chasing Universals." Chicago Reader (23 February 1996): 27, repro.

1996: Turner, Jane, ed. The Dictionary of Art 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 27:220.

1997: Bonnetti. "Art." San Francisco Examiner (12 January 1997): repro.

1997: Cernuschi, Claude. "Not an Illustration but the Equivalent": A Cognitive Approach to Abstact Expressionism. Madison, 1997: 81, repro.

1997: Curtis, Cathy. "Exhibition Misses Its Mark." Los Angeles Times (1997): F1, F2.

1998: Anfam, David. Mark Rothko: The Works on Canvas: Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven and London, 1998: no. 174, repro.