Synopsis
Mark Rothko is one of the towering figures of Abstract Expressionism, and of twentieth-century painting as a whole. His paintings, predominantly in a large format and featuring horizontal layers of pigment on a monochrome foundation, occupy a permanent place in our collective pictorial memory as an epitome of heroic Modernism. This beautifully produced oversize monograph presents over 100 of his works in full-color plates. 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 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 imposing scale 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. In addition to more than 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 bibliography of writings about him from the past five years. It is an essential addition to any collection on twentieth-century art.
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About the Author
Jeffrey Weiss is associate curator of twentieth-century art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. He is the author of The Popular Culture of Modern Art: Picasso, Duchamp, and Avant-Gardism, 1909-1917, published by Yale University Press.
From Booklist
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
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