Inscription: Signed and dated (verso): MARK ROTHKO/1960
Phillipe Dotremont, Brussels (in 1961); [Galerie Lawrence, Paris, 1963]; Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Scull, New York and Great Neck, N. Y. (1963–71; sale, Sotheby's, New York, November 18, 1970, no. 8, bought in; their gift to MMA)
Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. "Aktuelle Kunst: Bilder und Plastiken aus der Sammlung Dotremont," March 3–April 9, 1961, no. 69.
Kunsthalle Basel. "Moderne Malerei seit 1945 aus der Sammlung Dotremont," April 22–May 28, 1961, no. 69.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940–1970," October 18, 1969–February 8, 1970, no. 352 (as "Reds, No. 16," lent by Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Scull, New York) [reproduced upside down].
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "20th Century Accessions, 1967–1974," March 7–April 23, 1974, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976, unnum. brochure (p. 50).
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "Mark Rothko, 1903–1970: A Retrospective," October 27, 1978–January 14, 1979, no. 155 as "Reds, No. 16".
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Mark Rothko, 1903–1970: A Retrospective," February 8–April 1, 1979, no. 155.
Minneapolis. Walker Art Center. "Mark Rothko, 1903–1970: A Retrospective," April 21–June 10, 1979, no. 155.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Mark Rothko, 1903–1970: A Retrospective," July 3–September 26, 1979, no. 155.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Recent Acquisitions: Twentieth Century Art Department," October 16, 1979–January 30, 1980, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection One: Twentieth-Century Art," February 1–April 30, 1985, no catalogue.
"Un appartement Pop." L'Oeil no. 106 (October 1963), pp. 18–19, ill. (color, installation photo), states that Robert Scull traveled to Belgium to purchase the work, and reproduces a photograph of it hanging in the living room of the Scull's New York apartment.
Allene Talmey. "Fashions in Living: Art is the Core. In the Robert Scull New York Apartment, Art is the Lighthearted Obsession–from Renaissance to Pop Art–An Adventure for the Eyes." Vogue 144.1 (July 1, 1964), p. 122, ill. (color).
Grace Glueck. "Auction Where the Action Is." New York Times (November 15, 1970), p. D26.
H[enry]. G[eldzahler]. in "Recent Accessions." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 29 (April 1971), p. 371, (ill. upside down), calls it "Reds, No. 16"; notes that "we have long felt that if Mark Rothko were to be represented at the Metropolitan Museum by one painting, this should be it".
Henry Geldzahler in "Twentieth Century Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1965–1975. New York, 1975, p. 214, ill., calls it "Reds, No. 16"; states that the work traveled from New York to a collector in Brussels [Philippe Dotremont] and back to New York in the mid-sixties.
Olga Raggio et al. Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions 1965–1975. Explanatory Texts. Exh. brochure, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1975, p. 50.
Theodore F. Wolff. "Today's 'Questioning' Art." Christian Science Monitor (December 3, 1979), p. 19, calls it "Reds #16".
Lisa M. Messinger in "Twentieth Century Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1980–1981. New York, 1981, p. 63.
Lowery S. Sims inProfil du Metropolitan Museum of Art de New York: de Ramsès à Picasso. Exh. cat., Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux. Bordeaux, 1981, p. 167, calls it "Red 16 (Rouge 16)".
Steven Henry Madoff. "What is Postmodern About Painting: The Scandinavia Lectures." Arts Magazine 60 (September 1985), p.118, fig. 4, calls it "Reds, Number 16".
Eugene Victor Thaw. "The Abstract Expressionists." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 44 (Winter 1986–87), pp. 13, 35, fig. 9 (color), calls it "Untitled (Number 16)".
Lisa Mintz Messinger in20th Century Art: Selections from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vol. 2, Painting: 1945-1985. New York, 1986, pp. 36–37, ill. (color), calls it "Untitled (Number 16)".
William S. Lieberman in20th Century Art: Selections from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vol. 2, Painting: 1945–1985. New York, 1986, p. 6.
Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 9, The United States of America. New York, 1987, p. 140, colorpl. 105.
Theodore F. Wolff. "Metropolitan Museum of Art: Big Lift from a New Wing." Christian Science Monitor (February 2, 1987), p. 25, calls it "Untitled (Number 16)".
Anna C. Chave. Mark Rothko: Subjects in Abstraction. New Haven, 1989, pp. 75, 117–18, 121, colorpl. XXII, calls it "Reds, Number 16"; citing this picture as an example, states that "the structure of his pictures bears a significant relation to certain conventional pictorial structures–in this instance that of the full-figure portrait...Rothko created a recurrent type of picture with proportions that are somewhat more specifically related to those of the human form–small at the top, bulky in the middle, and medium-sized at the base".
Hiromoto Nobuyuki. Contemporary Great Masters: Mark Rothko. Vol. 4, Tokyo, 1993, p. 49, ill. (color).
James E. B. Breslin. "Rothko's Image." Mark Rothko: A Biography. Chicago, 1993, p. 420, cites No. 16 as one of the Abstract Expressionist paintings that "decorated the walls of his [Scull's] living room" in the early 1960s.
Diane Waldman. Mark Rothko in New York. New York, 1994, p. 26, no. 38, ill. (color), calls it "Untitled (Number 16)"; mentions this work among those illustrating Rothko's move towards horizontal compositions and darker palettes of similar tones as opposed to his earlier, brighter canvases with striking color combinations.
David Anfam. Mark Rothko: The Works on Canvas. Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven, 1998, p. 541, no. 683, ill. (color), calls it "No. 16".
Beatriz Cordero inThe Irascibles: Painters Against the Museum, New York, 1950. Ed. Bradford R. Collins et al. Exh. cat., Fundación Juan March. Madrid, 2020, p. 85.
Mark Rothko (American (born Russia, now Latvia), Dvinsk 1903–1970 New York)
1969
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