Creator Bio
Mark Rothko
1903–1970
The American painter Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Russia, in the Pale of Settlement. Before becoming one of America’s best-known abstract expressionists, he attended Yale University. Rothko grew up speaking Russian, Yiddish, and Hebrew; he was Markus Rotkovich when he attended Jewish school, learning Talmud. When his Orthodox family moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1913, the young Rothko was still engaged in Jewish communal life. As his artistic career flourished, Rothko drifted from Judaism, although some art critics still discern strong Jewish elements in his work.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
Untitled
Before he became known as a color field painter, Mark Rothko worked in other styles. During the 1940s, under the influence of surrealist artists who had fled Europe for the United States, he began to…
Primary Source
Letter to the Art Editor of the New York Times
June 7, 1943Mr. Edward Alden JewellArt EditorNew York Times229 West 43 StreetNew York, N.Y.Dear Mr. Jewell:To the artist, the workings of the critical mind is one of life’s mysteries. That is why, we…