Mark Rothko
American·1903–1970
No Portrait Available
Mark Rothko was a Latvian-born American painter who became one of the leading figures of Abstract Expressionism. Born Marcus Rothkowitz in 1903, he immigrated to the United States as a child and eventually settled in New York. By the late 1940s he'd stripped away figuration entirely, arriving at his signature format: large canvases with two or three soft-edged rectangles of luminous color stacked vertically.
Rothko insisted his paintings weren't about color or form. He wanted viewers to experience basic human emotions: tragedy, ecstasy, doom. He preferred his work hung in dimly lit rooms at close range, filling the viewer's entire field of vision. His late paintings grew darker, shifting from radiant oranges and yellows to deep maroons, blacks, and grays. Our collection includes 6 works by Rothko, displayed at institutions including Tate Modern in London.
Notable Works by Mark Rothko
6 paintings catalogued with museum locations
Museums with Mark Rothko's Work
2 museums display Rothko's works. Click any museum to see visiting info and the specific works they hold.
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About Mark Rothko
Rothko pioneered Color Field painting, a branch of Abstract Expressionism. His signature works feature large, soft-edged rectangles of color meant to evoke deep emotional responses rather than represent objects.
Major collections are at MoMA in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and Tate Modern in London. The Rothko Chapel in Houston holds 14 of his final dark paintings.
Rothko's works regularly sell for over $50 million at auction. His 1961 painting Orange, Red, Yellow sold for $86.9 million in 2012. Scarcity, art historical importance, and the intensity of the viewing experience all drive prices.
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