Rothko, Mark

Rothko, Mark
orig. Marcus Rothkowitz

born Sept. 25, 1903, Dvinsk, Russia
died Feb. 25, 1970, New York, N.Y., U.S.

Russian-born U.S. painter.

His family settled in Portland, Ore., in 1913, and he took up painting (largely self-taught) after moving to New York City in 1925. His early realistic style culminated in the Subway series (late 1930s). The semiabstract forms of his work in the early 1940s developed into a highly personal, contemplative form of Abstract Expressionism by 1948. Unlike many of his fellow Abstract Expressionists, Rothko never relied on such dramatic techniques as violent brush strokes or the dripping and splattering of paint. Instead, his virtually gestureless paintings achieved their effects by juxtaposing large areas of melting colours that seemingly float parallel to the picture plane in an indeterminate, atmospheric space. Rothko spent the rest of his life refining this basic style through continuous simplification. In 1965–66 he completed 14 immense canvases, whose sombre intensity reveals his deepening mysticism; they are now housed in a chapel in Houston, which was named the Rothko Chapel after his suicide.

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▪ American artist
original name  Marcus Rothkovitch 
born Sept. 25, 1903, Dvinsk, Russia
died Feb. 25, 1970, New York City, N.Y., U.S.
 American painter whose works introduced contemplative introspection into the melodramatic post-World War II Abstract Expressionist school; his use of colour as the sole means of expression led to the development of Colour Field Painting (colour-field painting).

      In 1913 Rothko's family emigrated from Russia to the U.S., where they settled in Portland, Ore. During his youth he was preoccupied with politics and social issues. He entered Yale University in 1921, intending to become a labour leader, but dropped out after two years and wandered about the U.S. In 1925 he settled in New York City and took up painting. Although he studied briefly under the painter Max Weber, he was essentially self-taught.

      Rothko first worked in a realistic style that culminated in his Subway series of the late 1930s, showing the loneliness of persons in drab urban environments. This gave way in the early 1940s to the semi-abstract biomorphic forms of the ritualistic Baptismal Scene (1945). By 1948, however, he had arrived at a highly personal form of Abstract Expressionism. Unlike many of his fellow Abstract Expressionists, Rothko never relied on such dramatic techniques as violent brushstrokes or the dripping and splattering of paint. Instead, his virtually gestureless paintings achieved their effects by juxtaposing large areas of melting colours that seemingly float parallel to the picture plane in an indeterminate, atmospheric space.

 Rothko spent the rest of his life refining this basic style through continuous simplification. He restricted his designs to two or three “soft-edged” rectangles that nearly filled the wall-sized vertical formats like monumental abstract icons. Despite their large size, however, his paintings derived a remarkable sense of intimacy from the play of nuances within local colour.

      From 1958 to 1966 Rothko worked intermittently on a series of 14 immense canvases (the largest was about 11 × 15 feet [3 × 5 metres]) eventually placed in a nondenominational chapel in Houston, Texas, called, after his death, the Rothko Chapel. These paintings were virtual monochromes of darkly glowing browns, maroons, reds, and blacks. Their sombre intensity reveals the deep mysticism of Rothko's later years. Plagued by ill health and the conviction that he had been forgotten by those artists who had learned most from his painting, he committed suicide.

      After his death, the execution of Rothko's will provoked one of the most spectacular and complex court cases in the history of modern art, lasting for 11 years (1972–82). The misanthropic Rothko had hoarded his works, numbering 798 paintings, as well as many sketches and drawings. His daughter, Kate Rothko, accused the executors of the estate (Bernard J. Reis, Theodoros Stamos, and Morton Levine) and Frank Lloyd, owner of Marlborough Galleries in New York City, of conspiracy and conflict of interest in selling the works—in effect, of enriching themselves. The courts decided against the executors and Lloyd, who were heavily fined. Lloyd was tried separately and convicted on criminal charges of tampering with evidence. In 1979 a new board of the Mark Rothko Foundation was established, and all the works in the estate were divided between the artist's two children and the Foundation. In 1984 the Foundation's share of works was distributed to 19 museums in the United States, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Denmark, and Israel; the best and the largest proportion went to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Additional Reading
Biographies include Dore Ashton, About Rothko (1983, reissued 1996), written by a fellow artist; and James E.B. Breslin, Mark Rothko (1993). Studies of his work are Anna C. Chave, Mark Rothko: Subjects in Abstraction (1989); and Marc Glimcher (ed.), The Art of Mark Rothko (1991).

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • ROTHKO, MARK — (1903–1970), U.S. painter. Born Marcus Rothkowitz in Dvinsk, Russia, Rothko immigrated to the United States in 1913 with his family, settling in Portland, Oregon. He attended Yale University on a scholarship (1921–23), but after two years he… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Rothko, Mark — orig. Marcus Rothkowitz (25 sep. 1903, Dvinsk, Rusia–25 feb. 1970, Nueva York, N.Y., EE.UU.). Pintor estadounidense de origen ruso. Radicada su familia en Portland, Ore., en 1913, se dedicó a la pintura (en forma casi por completo autodidacta)… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Rothko, Mark — (1903–70)    US abstract painter. Born in Russia, Rothko came to the United States as a boy. In 1935 he was a founder member of the Expressionist group known as ‘The Ten’. The European surrealists who arrived after the advent of Hitler had a… …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Rothko,Mark — Roth·ko (rŏthʹkō), Mark. Originally Marcus Rothkovitch. 1903 1970. Russian born American abstract expressionist painter whose works are characterized by horizontal bands of subtle color with blurred edges. * * * …   Universalium

  • Rothko, Mark — (1903 70)    American artist. Born in Dvinsk, Russia, he went to the US at the age of seven. He studied at Yale and later at the Arts Student League. He taught art to children at a school in Brooklyn and later at Brooklyn College. He painted huge …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Rothko, Mark —  (1903–1970) Russian born American painter …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • Mark Rothko — Rothko redirects here. For other uses, see Rothko (disambiguation). Mark Rothko Mark Rothko visiting the Scott family in 1959 Birth name Marcus Rothkowitz …   Wikipedia

  • Mark Rothko — (Lettisch: Marks Rotko; * 12. Septemberjul./ 25. September 1903greg.[1] in Daugavpils/Dwinsk, deutsch Dünaburg, Lettla …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Mark Rothko — Nombre de nacimiento Marcus Rothkowitz Nacimiento 25 de septiembre, 1903 Daugavpils, Letonia Fallecimiento 25 de febrero, 1970 (67) Nueva York, Estados Un …   Wikipedia Español

  • Rothko — Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (Lettisch: Marks Rotko; * 25. September 1903 in Daugavpils/Dwinsk, deutsch Dünaburg, Lettland, als Marcus Rothkowitz; † 25. Februar 1970 in New York) war ein lettisch amerikanischer Maler des …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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