This illustrated catalog is published to accompany the retrospective exhibition devoted to American artist Mark Rothko, curated by Suzanne Pagé and the artist's son, Christopher Rothko. The show will feature over one hundred works. Born Markus Rothkowitz in Latvia in the early 20th century, the man who would soon become known as Mark Rothko began painting in the 1930s. While his early works were influenced by mythology and Surrealism, his first abstract paintings emerged in the 1940s with the Multiform series, followed by his Classic Years and the Black and Gray paintings. A key figure on the New York art scene, Rothko was an uncategorizable artist who deployed an extensive palette of colour and light with a talent that consistently triggers emotion. His great sensitivity shaped a poetic, enigmatic universe that leaves no one untouched.
I so wished I could visit this exhibit in Paris. This comprehensive catalogue is the next best thing. I am so grateful to my son Gabe who gave it to me as a birthday present when we visited San Francisco MOMA together on my bday weekend. I have savored for the past month the reading and viewing of the art work depicted in this catalogue which includes essays by the author’s son and by other experts who recount details of Rothko’s life and analyze his art. The influence of Milton Avery was mentioned multiple times and that was a new and interesting fact I learned, as was Rothko’s dismissive attitude toward those who viewed his art as examinations of color. He saw his paintings as a means for the viewer to experience the world, and he was influenced by myth and by reading Kierkegaard and Nietzsche not so much by experimenting with color. I learned a lot about Rothko and his technique and view of his artwork. Such a great book, I will treasure it for years to come.