[Mountains and river]

Date
Dimensions
11 1/4 x 15 3/8 in. (28.6 x 39.1 cm)
Inscription
Lower right in graphite: M Rothkowitz
Estate/Inventory Number
62
Collection
Collection of Kate Rothko Prizel. © Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko
Remarks
During the summer of 1933 Rothko and Edith Sachar (1912–1981), who married in November 1932, hitchhiked from New York to Portland, Oregon, to visit Rothko’s mother [Maurice Roth, oral history interview, September 15, 1984, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC]. This watercolor was likely made during their summer visit; it may be a view of the Columbia River, east of Portland, where Rothko is known to have made other paintings. Signed and previously adhered to a mat, this work may have been exhibited during Rothko’s lifetime, possibly in a summer 1933 exhibition at the Museum of Art in Portland. A critic reviewing the show noted, “The water colors are chiefly landscapes and studies of forests in which the artist has sought to retain the effect of complexity one finds in the out-of-doors and to show its ultimate order and beauty. A hint of his admiration for Cézanne is in these water colors. They are carefully thought out and in no way theatrical or dramatic” [Catherine Jones, “Noted One-Man Show / Artist One-Time Portland Resident,” Sunday Oregonian, July 30, 1933]. The back of this work’s original mount, now removed, was inscribed with a signature and an address: “103 E. 10th St NYC.” This address appears on several other works on paper and a canvas, Woman Sewing [Anfam 59], dated to c. 1934, which is known to have been exhibited in First Exhibition—The Ten: An Independent Group, Montross Gallery, December 16, 1934–January 4, 1935.
Top