Mark Rothko (Marcus Rothkowitz) American, born Russia (Latvia), 1903–1970
Untitled (Purple, White, and Red)
1953
Mark Rothko's 'Untitled (Purple, White, and Red)' (1953) is a classic colour-field composition from Rothko's breakthrough years: three soft-edged horizontal rectangles of violet, white, and crimson float on a hot orange ground, vibrating against each other in a meditation on scale, colour, and the viewer's eye. The oil on canvas is a centrepiece of the Art Institute of Chicago's postwar American holdings.
Exhibition Venue
Image source: Art Institute of Chicago