Rothko exploited diluted washes of watercolor to picture the watery beginnings of life. Here the red and brown strokes that function as amoebalike swimmers in many of his early watercolors have resolved into the archaic idol of the work’s title. Like many Abstract Expressionists, Rothko was interested in primordial origins and creation myths, and he argued for the importance of such imagery and subject matter in a 1943 manifesto he cowrote with painter Adolph Gottlieb. Art, they declared, should be “an adventure into an unknown world” and its subject matter must be “tragic and timeless,” demonstrating a “spiritual kinship with primitive and archaic art.”

Gallery label from

Abstract Expressionist New York, October 3, 2010-April 25, 2011.

Medium Ink and gouache on paper
Dimensions 21 7/8 x 30" (55.6 x 76.2 cm.).
Credit The Joan and Lester Avnet Collection
Object number 157.1978.a-b
Department Drawings and Prints

Explore more

Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko

American, born Russia (now Latvia). 1903–1970 19 works online

Mark Rothko sought to make paintings that would bring people to tears.If you…are moved only by their color relationships, then you miss the point.

Learn more →
All works by Mark Rothko →

From MoMA Design Store

Installation views

We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.

How we identified these works
In 2018–19, MoMA collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a project using machine learning to identify artworks in installation photos. That project has concluded, and works are now being identified by MoMA staff.

If you notice an error, please contact us at [email protected].
Licensing
To reproduce installation views, please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations). You will need to include the object identification number found in the caption.
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].

Licensing

Artwork or archival images

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

Audio and film clips

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.

Text from a publication or the archives

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].

Feedback

This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.