Mark RothkoAmerican, 1903–1970Sketch in the Shade
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
Washington, D.C., United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1986.56.650
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- National Gallery of Art
- Image: National Gallery of Art — © the artist or rights holder
Meanwhile, in the life of Mark Rothko
The whole life1921–1923
Yale: a satirical magazine against snobbery
At Yale, which he entered in September 1921 on a scholarship, Rothko and Aaron Director put out a satirical magazine, The Yale Saturday Evening Pest, that lampooned the university’s stuffiness, elitism and racism. The scholarship was not renewed after his first year, so he took odd jobs to pay his way.
autumn 1923
New York: “born as an artist”
In the autumn of 1923 Rothko moved to New York and, visiting a friend at the Art Students League, watched students sketching a model: that moment, he later said, was when he was “born as an artist”. He took lessons from George Bridgman and later studied at the New School of Design, where Arshile Gorky was among his teachers.
1923
Drops out of Yale
In 1923, at the end of his second year, Rothko left the university: by one account disgusted by its elitism and racism, by another because of money troubles or boredom with his courses.
1925–1926
Max Weber: art as emotional and religious expression
Rothko attended Max Weber’s classes at the Art Students League only briefly, from October to December 1925 and from March to May 1926, but Weber strongly influenced his early work: from then on Rothko saw art as a vehicle for emotional and religious expression.
![Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/8f29e3c9-a289-4d53-abf0-31a66e9e98fa/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/ff62e8d0-45c4-498f-ad36-6358de827e04/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
