(SOLD): WALDMAN, Diane. MARK ROTHKO, 1903-1970: A Retrospective.

(New York, NY): Harry H. Abrams, in collaboration with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1978. First edition. Hardcover. 28.7cm by 22.5cm. 296 pages. Published to accompany the major retrospective exhibition of Mark Rothko held at the Guggenheim Museum in 1978–79. A substantial and authoritative monograph, with an extended critical essay by Diane Waldman—then curator at the Guggenheim—together with a detailed chronology, exhibition history, and catalogue of works. The volume traces Rothko’s development from early figurative and surrealist phases through to the mature colour-field paintings for which he is best known, with particular emphasis on the late works and the Seagram and chapel commissions. Noted for the quality and scale of its colour reproductions the catalogue remains an important reference work on Rothko and a key document of the late-20th-century reassessment of Abstract Expressionism. A very good copy, small previous owner’s name to edge of title-page, in a very good dust jacket.