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Sacrifice
April 1946
Watercolor, gouache, and india ink on paper
100.2 x 65.8 cm
76.2553 PG 154 |
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During the late 1930s and early 1940s Mark
Rothko, like William
Baziotes, Adolph Gottlieb, and Theodoros Stamos,
combined mythical themes with primordial imagery in
order to express universal experiences. In his work
of this period evanescent biomorphic shapes float within
an atmospheric haze. Resembling rudimentary life forms
or primitive subaquatic plants and creatures, these
shapes are intended to provide a visible equivalent
of images lodged in the subconscious. Though he drew
primarily on his innermost sensations, Rothko also looked
toward earlier art. The example of Joan
Miró is here evoked in the dotted line, the
flame, the amorphic personage at the lower left, and
in the meandering threadlike tendrils.
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