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Mark Rothko, American, 1903-1970, b. Latvia
Untitled No. 11, 1963, 1963
Oil on canvas
6 feet 3 1/8 inches x 5 feet 9 1/8 inches (190.82 x 175.58 cm)
Gift of the Friends of Art, F64-15
© The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Location: Gallery L2
Mark Rothko created paintings that represent the transcendence of self and the contemplation of a spiritual realm. Composed of closely matched hues, his soft-edged rectangles appear to float on another field of color. These atmospheric paintings serve as reference points for psychological states and suggest a way of being that is quiet and meditative.
A tenet of Zen philosophy states: “In emptiness, forms are born.” Rothko’s painting, much like a void, allows the viewer an opportunity to confront the self and discover the universe anew. The artist believed that his work offered a ritual passage to a sacred realm.
Untitled, No. 11, 1963 belongs to a series of works known as the dark paintings. Prior to this body of work, Rothko produced paintings similar in form, but of intensely rich and varied colors. When a new generation of critics began discussing his pulsing chromatic works in formalist terms, as expressions of color relationships only, Rothko began painting in dark tones, in defiance of their limited interpretations.
