[Untitled]

A date of 1953 appears on the back of this work’s mounting, seemingly in Rothko's hand. The same date was subsequently incorporated into the number assigned during Rothko’s inventory of 1968/1969; the inventory number, 1002.53, is also inscribed on the verso of the mounted work, but in a different hand, likely that of one of Rothko's assistants. However, despite this documentation, technical and stylistic comparison with similar works suggests that the present work was more likely made in 1959.

Sedat Pakay, a graduate student in photography at Yale School of Art, photographed Rothko in his studio in 1967 posed before the current work and [Untitled] (fig. 1).