Mark Rothko at the California School of Fine Arts, 1943–2015, bulk 1947–1949

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Summary

Creators:
California School of Fine Arts (San Francisco, Calif.) ; Rothko, Mark ; MacAgy, Douglas
Abstract:
This collection contains material related to the two summers Mark Rothko spent teaching as a guest instructor at the California School of Fine Arts in 1947 and 1949 at the invitation of CSFA Director Douglas MacAgy, as well as contextual secondary source information on Rothko and his career.
Extent:
One document box, approximately .75 linear feet.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Mark Rothko at the California School of Fine Arts (SFAI.029). Folder [x], Box 1, San Francisco Art Institute Legacy Foundation + Archive.

Background

Scope and content:

Materials in this collection relate primarily to Rothko’s time spent teaching at the California School of Fine Arts (later known as the San Francisco Art Institute) in the summers of 1947 and 1949 at the invitation of CSFA Director Douglas MacAgy. The collection includes correspondence between Rothko and MacAgy arranging these jobs. Also included is later correspondence between the SFAI library and external researchers pertaining to Rothko’s time at the school. Additionally, it includes newspaper clippings and book excerpts that discuss Rothko, his works, and his exhibitions before and after his time at the school. There is a special focus on newspaper articles about his death and the subsequent (mis)handling of his estate. Also included is material related to the painting Ex. No. 7, controversially attributed to Rothko from the summer of 1949.

Biographical / historical:

The period in which Mark Rothko taught at the California School of Fine Arts was pivotal, both in Rothko’s own artistic development and within the development of the school. This post-war period brought with it an influx of veteran students funded by the G.I. Bill, resulting in a creatively generative atmosphere as well as a period of financial well-being for the school. Douglas MacAgy was appointed as the school’s Director in 1945, and set to work transforming the school, bringing in an adventurous faculty that included Ansel Adams and Minor White who founded a groundbreaking fine arts photography program; Sidney Peterson, who started the pioneering Workshop 20 experimental film program; as well as Elmer Bischoff, Clyfford Still, Claire Falkenstein, and David Park, putting the CSFA at the center of West Coast Abstract Expressionism. For his part, this period marked a turning point in Rothko’s artistic development, as by the end of his time at the school he had begun working in his signature style of soft-edged, stacked rectangular forms.

Acquisition information:
Material in this collection was internally generated or collected by the CSFA/SFAI.
Processing information:

Sara Baudler

Arrangement:

This collection is organized into two series. Series 1 contains original correspondence and documentation of Mark Rothko’s time teaching at the California School of Fine Arts. Series 2 contains supporting documents that give context to Rothko’s time at the school and career as an artist, arranged by subject.

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

Contact the San Francisco Art Institute Legacy Foundation + Archive for questions or requests regarding use of these materials.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Mark Rothko at the California School of Fine Arts (SFAI.029). Folder [x], Box 1, San Francisco Art Institute Legacy Foundation + Archive.

Location of this collection:
20 Hawthorne St.
San Francisco, CA 94105, US