Mark Rothko

American painter, born in Russia, 1903-1970

Mark Rothko, born in 1903, was an abstract expressionist painter known for his color field paintings produced between 1949 until his death in 1970. Originally from Daugavpils, Latvia (then the Russian Empire), Rothko’s family emigrated to Portland, Oregon, and Rothko later moved to New York City. Rothko’s signature style of Color Field Paintings – large abstracted regions of pure color on canvas – was influenced by World War II, which prompted reflections and experimentation with artistic expressions of tragedy in his work. Through these paintings, Rothko attempted to create a direct and reflective relationship between painting and viewer, with limi... Show more