Mark Rothko was one of the most famous of the American abstract expressionist painters, renowned for his color-field paintings.
Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Russia on 25 September 1903; his family emigrated to the USA in 1913, to Portland, Oregon. Rothko was largely a self-taught painter, studying liberal arts at Yale University (1921-3, leaving in his third year), then moving to New York in 1925 and attending a few painting classes at the Art Students League in New York (under Max Weber), frequenting exhibitions, and visiting artists in their studios. Rothko committed suicide in 1970.
If you're familiar only with his huge color-field paintings, abstracts focusing on the impact of color, you may be surprised to know he didn't get into this style until the late 1940s. Earlier in his career he tried various other styles, including Surrealism. He had his first solo exhibition in 1933 at the Portland Art Museum; his 1930s paintings contained simplified compositions and flat colors, reflecting influence from the painters Milton Avery and Henri Matisse.
For more on Rothko, read this detailed Photo Essay of Rothko's Work and Life, from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA.
View Rothko Paintings:
- Photo Gallery: Rothko Exhibition at the Tate Modern
- Tate Galleries
- Moma, New York
- Guggenheim Collections
- Rothko Chapel
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