National Gallery of Art Curator Brings New Perspective on Mark Rothko to Anchorage

Free public lecture offers the opportunity to experience Rothko's work and the story behind one of America's most influential artists and coincides with the museum's presentation of Rothko's Untitled (1958).

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (July 10) — National Gallery of Art Associate Curator Adam Greenhalgh, one of the world's leading experts on Mark Rothko, will visit Anchorage on Wednesday, Aug. 12, to present On the Edge: A Lecture on Mark Rothko. His visit is made possible through the National Gallery of Art's Across the Nation program, which has brought Rothko's Untitled (1958), now on view in Cold War to the Cosmos, to the Anchorage Museum.

The Anchorage Museum is one of only 10 museums nationwide selected to participate in Across the Nation, a National Gallery initiative that shares works from its collection with museums across the United States. Through the program, Rothko's Untitled (1958) is featured in Cold War to the Cosmos, an exhibition examining the Arctic's strategic importance during the Cold War.

Greenhalgh curated the National Gallery exhibition Mark Rothko: Paintings on Paper and has spent years researching and writing about Rothko's life and work. During the lecture, he will explore how Rothko's early figurative paintings evolved into the abstract works for which he is best known, and how the tensions of the Cold War era influenced his artistic development.

Visitors are encouraged to view Untitled (1958) before and after the lecture, giving them the opportunity to experience the painting with new insight from Greenhalgh's presentation.

On the Edge: A Lecture on Mark Rothko will take place from 6–8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, in the Anchorage Museum Auditorium. Admission is free; registration is recommended.

Other works on loan through the National Gallery's Across the Nation program include Winter Road I by Georgia O'Keeffe and Consequence by Nancy Graves, now on view in the Art of the North Galleries.