[Untitled]
![[Untitled]](https://rothkotest.whirlihost.com/media/collectiveaccess/images/5/6/11178_ca_object_representations_media_5619_large.jpg)
1986.56.639
Date
Medium
Support
Dimensions
11 1/16 x 8 9/16 in. (28.1 x 21.7 cm)
Estate/Inventory Number
H 23.2
Collection
National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.56.639. © Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko
Exhibitions
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, National Gallery of Art, May 6 – August 5, 1984, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, November 3, 1984 – January 6, 1985, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, May 3 – June 16, 1985, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Milwaukee Art Museum, November 22, 1985 – January 12, 1986, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Portland Art Museum, February 11 – April 6, 1986, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, May 8 – June 29, 1986, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Saint Louis Art Museum, July 18 – September 1, 1986, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Fort Worth Art Museum, September 21 – November 9, 1986, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko, National Gallery of Art, May 3 – August 16, 1998, cat. 91, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko, Whitney Museum of American Art, September 17 – November 29, 1998, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko, Fundació Joan Miró, November 23, 2000 – January 28, 2001, as Sense títol.
Mark Rothko: “A Consummated Experience between Picture and Onlooker”, Fondation Beyeler, February 18 – June 24, 2001, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, November 3, 1984 – January 6, 1985, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, May 3 – June 16, 1985, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Milwaukee Art Museum, November 22, 1985 – January 12, 1986, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Portland Art Museum, February 11 – April 6, 1986, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, May 8 – June 29, 1986, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Saint Louis Art Museum, July 18 – September 1, 1986, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, Fort Worth Art Museum, September 21 – November 9, 1986, cat. 59, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko, National Gallery of Art, May 3 – August 16, 1998, cat. 91, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko, Whitney Museum of American Art, September 17 – November 29, 1998, as Untitled.
Mark Rothko, Fundació Joan Miró, November 23, 2000 – January 28, 2001, as Sense títol.
Mark Rothko: “A Consummated Experience between Picture and Onlooker”, Fondation Beyeler, February 18 – June 24, 2001, as Untitled.
References
“Rothko: Works on Paper.” Exhibit 123 (July–August 1984): 6–7, 7 (b/w).
Miller, Donald. “Rothko’s Work Retains Its Luminous Quality.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 24, 1984: 22 (b/w).
Clearwater, Bonnie. Mark Rothko: Works on Paper. American Federation of Arts, New York, 1984: 49, 134, cat. 59 (color).
Cassell, James. “Rothko’s Subtler Shades.” USA Today, May 7, 1984: D2 (b/w).
Turner, Elisa. “To Evoke the Enchanted Unknown.” Art News 85, no. 3 (March 1985): 33 (b/w).
Hiromoto, Nobuyuki. Contemporary Great Masters: Mark Rothko. Vol. 4, Tokyo, 1993: 99 (b/w).
Dawson, Jessica Barrow. “Into the Black.” Washington City Paper, June 12, 1998: 58 (b/w).
Weiss, Jeffrey, ed. Mark Rothko. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998: cat. 91 (color).
Tully, Judd. “Waiting for Rothko.” Washington Post Magazine, April 19, 1998: W16 (b/w).
Panicelli, Ida. “Silenzio, é Rothko.” L’Espresso, June 25, 1998: 131 (b/w).
Lewis, Jo Ann. “Rothko: Not Nothing. A Modern Master Is Here, but the Old Thrill Is Gone.” Washington Post, May 3, 1998: G01 (b/w).
Wick, Oliver, et al. Mark Rothko. Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain, 2000: 165, 116 (color).
Wick, Oliver, et al. Mark Rothko. Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland, 2001: 176, cat. 90 (color).
Venturi, Riccardo. Mark Rothko: Lo spazio e la sua disciplina. Milan, Italy, 2007: 79, 129 (color).
Rothko Prizel, Kate, Christopher Rothko, Alexander Nemerov, et al. Mark Rothko. New York, 2022: plate 225 (color).
Pagé, Suzanne, and Christopher Rothko, eds. Mark Rothko. Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, 2023: 50, 51 (color).
Venturi, Riccardo. “‘It Lives and Breathes’: Depicting Human Drama.” In Pagé, Suzanne, and Christopher Rothko, eds. Mark Rothko. Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, 2023: 50, 51 (color).
Miller, Donald. “Rothko’s Work Retains Its Luminous Quality.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 24, 1984: 22 (b/w).
Clearwater, Bonnie. Mark Rothko: Works on Paper. American Federation of Arts, New York, 1984: 49, 134, cat. 59 (color).
Cassell, James. “Rothko’s Subtler Shades.” USA Today, May 7, 1984: D2 (b/w).
Turner, Elisa. “To Evoke the Enchanted Unknown.” Art News 85, no. 3 (March 1985): 33 (b/w).
Hiromoto, Nobuyuki. Contemporary Great Masters: Mark Rothko. Vol. 4, Tokyo, 1993: 99 (b/w).
Dawson, Jessica Barrow. “Into the Black.” Washington City Paper, June 12, 1998: 58 (b/w).
Weiss, Jeffrey, ed. Mark Rothko. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998: cat. 91 (color).
Tully, Judd. “Waiting for Rothko.” Washington Post Magazine, April 19, 1998: W16 (b/w).
Panicelli, Ida. “Silenzio, é Rothko.” L’Espresso, June 25, 1998: 131 (b/w).
Lewis, Jo Ann. “Rothko: Not Nothing. A Modern Master Is Here, but the Old Thrill Is Gone.” Washington Post, May 3, 1998: G01 (b/w).
Wick, Oliver, et al. Mark Rothko. Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain, 2000: 165, 116 (color).
Wick, Oliver, et al. Mark Rothko. Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland, 2001: 176, cat. 90 (color).
Venturi, Riccardo. Mark Rothko: Lo spazio e la sua disciplina. Milan, Italy, 2007: 79, 129 (color).
Rothko Prizel, Kate, Christopher Rothko, Alexander Nemerov, et al. Mark Rothko. New York, 2022: plate 225 (color).
Pagé, Suzanne, and Christopher Rothko, eds. Mark Rothko. Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, 2023: 50, 51 (color).
Venturi, Riccardo. “‘It Lives and Breathes’: Depicting Human Drama.” In Pagé, Suzanne, and Christopher Rothko, eds. Mark Rothko. Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, 2023: 50, 51 (color).
![[Harvard mural study]](https://rothkotest.whirlihost.com/media/collectiveaccess/images/3/4/20458_ca_object_representations_media_3473_small.jpg)
![[Untitled]](https://rothkotest.whirlihost.com/media/collectiveaccess/images/3/1/5950_ca_object_representations_media_3127_small.jpg)
![[Untitled]](https://rothkotest.whirlihost.com/media/collectiveaccess/images/2/7/23291_ca_object_representations_media_2726_small.jpg)
Remarks
Distinctive ink stains on three untitled drawings closely linked in style and facture to this one (see Related Works on Paper) indicate that the four drawings were made on sheets, possibly contiguous, from the same sketchpad. The stains probably derive from wet ink along the lower edge of the current drawing when it was created. One of the quartet, [Untitled], is a study for the Harvard murals and was likely done by Rothko in the early months of 1962, when he reportedly began work in earnest on the cycle [James E. B. Breslin, Mark Rothko: A Biography (Chicago and London, 1993), 649n19; Karyn Esielonis, “The History of Rothko’s Harvard Murals,” in Marjorie B. Cohn, ed., Mark Rothko’s Harvard Murals (Cambridge, 1988), 12n13]. The related ink stains point to the probability of synchronous execution.
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