26/10/2026
🎂 Today marks the 123rd birthday of the renowned abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko, who was born on September 25, 1903
“I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions—tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on. And the fact that a lot of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions.” — Mark Rothko
Artist Mark Rothko sought to make paintings that would bring people to tears. He painted to explore the depths of himself and the human condition. For him, art was a profound form of communication, and art making was a moral act.
Born in Latvia in 1903, Rothko immigrated to the United States in 1913. Like his peers, he found his direction and place in New York and began to study at Parsons School of Design under painter Arshile Gorky in 1925.
His time at Parsons piqued his interest in European Surrealism which influenced the biomorphic forms that populate his paintings from the early 1940s. These forms would ultimately give way to his Color Field painting style and exploration of the limitless possibilities of layering variously sized and colored rectangles onto fields of color.
🔎 An explained! “Color Field painting” refers to a form of abstract painting that emerged in the 1950s and 60s, characterized by significant open space and an expressive use of color.
🖼️ See MoMA’s collection of extraordinary works by Mark Rothko, new on view in Gallery 403: “Mark Rothko.”
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Installation view of Gallery 403: “Mark Rothko.” All works by Mark Rothko © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
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