Mark Rothko

Rothko’s most famous paintings are profoundly contemplative works, rectangles of vibrant color that seem lit from within and that are full of subtle energy and life, like the sky or the surface of a lake. This handsome retrospective catalog of his work, which includes his early representational paintings as well as his harmonic abstractions, has been published in conjunction with a major traveling exhibition of his work and contains more than 100 colorplates. Weiss has wisely placed the art before the commentary, allowing readers to absorb the quiet impact of Rothko’s work before seeking explanations of the man and his still controversial creations in essays by Weiss, John Cage, Barbara Novak and Brian O’Doherty, and Carol Mancusi-Ungaro. Interviews with painters Ellsworth Kelly, Gerhard Richter, and Robert Ryman attest to Rothko’s tremendous influence, and a detailed chronology tracks his rise to prominence, his steadily deteriorating health, and his suicide in 1970. Weiss’ book succeeds in embracing the beauty, mystery, and sorrow of Rothko’s vision. Donna Seaman –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

This beautifully produced, oversized monograph on the American artist Mark Rothko, presents over 100 of his works in full-color plates that reveal his remarkable genius. Rothko is one of the towering figures of Abstract Expressionism, and in fact, of 20th-century painting as a whole. His paintings, predominantly in a large format and featuring horizontal layers of pigment on a monochrome foundation, will forever be in our pictorial memory as the epitome of classical modernism. By considering Rothko’s central groups of works from all creative periods-among them the Rothko Room in the Phillips Collection and the Harvard Murals at Harvard University-this book documents the artist’s continuous struggle to arrive at “a consummated experience between picture and onlooker.” Rothko’s adamant insistence on controlling the presentation of his works set him apart from the art scene as early as the 1950s. His pictures were to be hung closely together in small rooms, in which soft lighting and his large formats were to provide an immediate viewing experience. This book attempts to recreate that atmosphere with a large, uninterrupted plate section that brings to life the vibrancy and power of these paintings, especially when looked at in abundance. In addition to the over 100 color works, “Mark Rothko” includes essays about specific groups of work, an extensive, year by year, descriptive chronology of his life and work, and an exhaustive bibiography of writings about him from the past five years. An essential addition to any collection on 20th century art.

Mark Rothko was born in Russia in 1903, and emigrated to the United States as a child. He studied at Yale University and the Art Students League in New York. He was a founder of the Expressionist group “The Ten” in 1935. He continued to work and exhibit until his death by suicide in 1970. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions both during and after his life at major public institutions throughout the United States, and is in most major collections of modern art.