About Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko was an American abstract expressionist painter born in Latvia in 1903.
Mark Rothko at a glance
- Born: September 25, 1903, Dvinsk, Latvia
- Died: February 25, 1970, New York City
- Nationality: American, born in Latvia
- Movement: Abstract Expressionism and color field painting
- Known for: Soft rectangles of color floating on stained fields
- Education: Yale University, then the Art Students League of New York
- Notable works: The Seagram Murals and the Rothko Chapel in Houston
“The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them. And if you are moved only by their color relationships, you are missing the point.”
Mark Rothko’s family emigrated to the United States in 1910, settling in Portland, Oregon, and he later studied at Yale University before moving to New York in 1925 to pursue a career in art, where he attended the Art Students League of New York.
Mark Rothko moved through many artistic styles before reaching his signature 1950s abstract expressionistic style of soft, rectangular forms floating on stained fields of colour, and he was heavilly influenced by mythology and philosophy, insisting that his art was filled with content and brimming with ideas.
Mark Rothko wanted to convey the human drama or the tragedy of human existence in his work, and he based himself on old Greek myths but also used Christian symbolism of life and death in works like Baptismal Scene, Gethsemane, and Entombment.
Mark Rothko was a fierce champion of social revolutionary thought and the right to self-expression, and he expounded his views in numerous essays and critical reviews, and his career spanned five decades, with his paintings credited as crucial to the development of the non-representational art movement.
- Born in Latvia in 1903, emigrated to the US in 1910.
- Studied at the Art Students League of New York.
- His signature style is color field painting with rectangular forms.
- Heavily influenced by mythology and Christian symbolism.
- Died in 1970 in New York City.
Mark Rothko was raised as an Orthodox Jew but later distanced himself from the synagogue, and he was associated with the Abstract Expressionist art movement, specifically color field painting, which used large rectangular shapes of color to convey deep emotion.
Mark Rothko’s legacy is that of a pioneer of non-representational art, and his work continues to be celebrated for its emotional depth and its ability to evoke a profound spiritual experience in viewers, cementing his place as one of the most important American artists of the twentieth century.