The American artist, Mark Rothko (1903-1970) is known for his towering abstract paintings on canvas. Joy, despair, ecstasy and tragedy are among the themes that he sought to express in his luminous works. Despite Rothko's prominence, few know that he also created more than 1,000 paintings on paper during his career. The artist did not regard these as preliminary studies, but as finished paintings in their own right.
The works range from early figurative subjects and surrealist works to the soft rectangular fields, often realized on a monumental scale, for which Rothko is best known. These works challenge our expectations of how painting is defined, as well as popular ideas about Rothko and his career. In this beautifully illustrated volume, curator Adam Greenhalgh traces the role these works played in the artist's reception, reputation and success.
Building on the important research carried out by Greenhalgh and his team for the cataloging of Rothko's works on paper, the book offers a new understanding of an underappreciated facet of the artist's practice.
Adam Greenhalgh is associate curator at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC and lead author of the online catalog raisonné of Rothko's works on paper, published by the National Gallery of Art.
Dimensions: 22.2 x 28 cm
Pages: 200
Language: English
Author: Adam Greenhalgh
Publisher: Yale University Press