five artists you should know : part 2, mark rothko

I am not an abstract painter. I am not interested in the relationship between form and colour. The only thing I care about is the expression of man’s basic emotions: tragedy, ecstasy, destiny.

-Mark Rothko

Abstract/expressionist artist Mark Rothko emigrated to to the US from Russia at the age of 10.  His intellectual abilities allowed him to speed through school, and he graduated with honors at Lincoln High School in Portland in June of 1921.

Moving to New York in 1923 launched both his formal art education (New School of Design, Art Students League, and others) and early showings of his work, which at the time was described as

dark, moody, expressionist interiors and urban scenes were generally well-accepted among critics and peers

Despite the positive critical reaction, Rothko found himself financially strapped, and began giving classes in painting and sculpture at the Center Academy, where he would work until 1952.

Two factors are thought to have contributed to his progression into more abstract works based solely on form and color, as pictured above:  The onset of World War II (which prompted him to finalize his American citizenship to avoid potential deporation due to his Jewish heritage, a fate feared by many as the Nazi rise to power continued), and an increased interest in the teachings of Nihlist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

By 1945, Rothko had presented a one man show at the famed Guggenheim museum in NYC.  Pieces from this show sold for prices ranging from $150-$750 and the critics were less than thrilled with his new artistic direction.

The following year saw the debut of what would become Rothko’s most successful and signature style his “multiform” paintings.

Rothko himself described these paintings as possessing a more organic structure, as self-contained units of human expression. For Rothko, these blurred blocks of various colors, devoid of landscape or human figure, let alone myth and symbol, possessed their own life force. They contained a “breath of life” he found lacking in most figurative painting of the era

These paintings, typically composed of symmetrical rectangular blocks of two to three opposing or contrasting, yet complementary colors, would define Rothko’s output for the remaining years until his death.  Rothko also began painting only on incredibly large canvasses

to make the viewer feel enveloped within the painting

The paintings of this era were un-named, and differentiated by a number or the date on which they were completed, a move that frustrated some art dealers who found it difficult to identify them.

Many of the “multiforms” and early signature paintings display an affinity for bright, vibrant colors, particularly reds and yellows, expressing energy and ecstasy. By the mid 1950’s however, close to a decade before the completion of the first “multiforms,” Rothko began to employ dark blues and greens; for many critics of his work this shift in colors was representative of a growing darkness within Rothko’s personal life.

Rothko spent the last 6 years of his life working on paintings for the Rothko Chapel, which was being erected solely to house them in Houston, Texas.

Rothko did not live to see its grand opening in 1971.  He committed suicide in his NYC studio on February 25, 1970.