concept:era modern
No. 61 (Rust and Blue)
Oil on canvas (1953) by Mark Rothko, featuring two hovering rectangular colour fields in rust and blue tones on a large canvas. Held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA).
Scholarly Significance
Anchor the Abstract Expressionism / Color Field cluster with Rothko's No. 61 (Rust and Blue), held at MOCA Los Angeles.
Notes
- ·Part of Rothko's classic Color Field series of the 1950s, characterised by large hovering rectangular bands of colour.
- ·The rust and blue palette creates a characteristic luminous tension — the colours appear to breathe and vibrate against each other.
- ·The work's classification as 'Abstract Expressionism' versus 'Color Field painting' is a point of scholarly debate (see claim:rothko-color-field-classification-claim).
- ·MOCA Los Angeles acquired the work through the Panza Collection — a major acquisition of Abstract Expressionist and Minimalist works.
- ·Approximately 295 × 232 cm — Rothko's large canvases were intended to envelop the viewer.