Mark Rothko (1903-1970), Saffron

Mark Rothko (1903-1970)
Saffron
signed and dated 'MARK ROTHKO 1957' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
69 1/2 x 53 3/4 in. (175.6 x 136.5 cm.)
Painted in 1957.

Provenance
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
Carlo Cardazzo, Venice, 1958
Dr. Luciano Pomini, Busto Arsizio, 1960
Acquavella Contemporary Art, Inc., New York, 1977
Ralph and Helyn Goldenberg, Chicago, 1977
Galerie Beyeler, Basel, 1987
Gallery Urban, Nagoya–New York–Paris, 1987
Anon. sale; Sotheby's, London, 27 June 1991, lot 47
Private collection, Geneva
Galerie Beyeler, Basel, 1996
Batliner Collection, Liechtenstein
Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Pre-Lot Text
Property of a Private European Collector

Literature
J. Schuyler, “Mark Rothko,” Art News, vol. 57, no. 1, March 1958, p. 12 (illustrated inverted).
D. Ashton, “Perspective de la peinture américaine”, Cahiers d’Art, vol. 33-35, 1960, p. 209 (illustrated).
G. Marchiori, La pittura straniera nelle collezione italiane, Turin, 1960, n.p. (illustrated in color).
L. Alloway, The Venice Biennale 1895-1968: from salon to goldfish bowl, Greenwich, 1968 (illustrated on the inside front cover and inside back cover).
J. Haviland, ed., A Picture History of Art: Western Art Through the Ages, Oxford, 1979, p. 304, no. 1 (illustrated in color with the incorrect date).
J.-E. Muller and R. T. Bellido, A Century of Modern Painting, New York, 1986, p. 204 (illustrated in color with the incorrect date and inverted).
I. de Wavrin, "Marché," Beaux Arts, vol. 93, September 1991, p. 37 (illustrated in color).
D. Anfam, Mark Rothko: The Works on Canvas, Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven, 2001, pp. 448-449, no. 584 (illustrated in color).
R. Koella and F. Billeter, Secret Masterpieces from the R. & H. Batliner Art Foundation, New York and London, 2006, pp. 364-365 and 473, no. 192 (illustrated in color).
O. Wick, ed., Rothko, Milan, 2007, p. 215 (installation view illustrated).

Exhibited
Turin, Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, La pittura moderna straniera nelle collezioni private italiane, March-April 1961, no. 182 (illustrated inverted).
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Houston, Museum of Fine Arts; Minneapolis, Walker Art Center; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mark Rothko 1903-1970: A Retrospective, October 1978-September 1979, n.p., no. 148 (illustrated inverted).
Basel, Galerie Beyeler, Landscapes and Horizons, October-December 1987, no. 37 (illustrated in color).
Basel, Galerie Beyeler, I Love Yellow, June-September 1996, p. 58, no. 67.
Riehen/Basel, Fondation Beyeler, Mark Rothko, "A consummated experience between picture and onlooker", February-April 2001, pp. 118 and 173, pl. 37 (illustrated in color).
Vienna, Albertina, Monet to Picasso: The Batliner Collection, September 2007-May 2009, p. 377 and 408, no. 251 (illustrated in color).
Vienna, Albertina, Masterpieces of Modernism, May 2009-September 2010, pp. 216-217 (illustrated in color).