mark rothko
Mark Rothko was one of the most highly-regarded painters to emerge from the New York art scene after the end of World War II. [1]
Mark Rothko (Marcus Rothkowitz, Mark Rotkovich) was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian Empire (now Daugavpils, Latvia). [...] While visiting a friend at the Art Students League of New York, he saw students sketching a model. [2]
Heavily influenced by mythology and philosophy, he was insistent that his art was filled with content, and brimming with ideas. [...] A fierce champion of social revolutionary thought, and the right to self-expression, Rothko also expounded his views in numerous essays and critical reviews. [3]
During his career he became less and less interested in representational art and more drawn to art as a transcendent experience. [1]
Even his self-described “beginning” at the Art Students League of New York was not whole-hearted commitment; two months after he returned to Portland to visit his family, he joined a theater group run by Clark Gable’s wife, Josephine Dillon. [4]
Between the mid-1920s and the end of the 1940s, Rothko’s paintings evolved from distorted figures and pseudo-primitive figures to less distinct figures known as “multiforms,” then finally to the large, rectangular fields of color for which he became famous. [1]
It was due to Weber that Rothko began to see art as a tool of emotional and religious expression, and Rothko’s paintings from this era reveal a Weberian influence. [4]
There he found his niche in a crowd of like-minded artists (sometimes called “the Ten”) and he began painting. [1]
In 1928, Rothko exhibited works with a group of other young artists at the appropriately named Opportunity Gallery. [2]
His academic success in high school led to a scholarship at Yale University, but he dropped out during his second year and moved to New York City in 1923. [1]
Here, amongst other issues, he and many other artists fought for a municipal gallery, which was eventually granted. [3]
In 1928, Rothko exhibited works with a group of other young artists at the appropriately named Opportunity Gallery. [...] Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz (September 25, 1903 ‘ February 25, 1970), was a Russian -born American painter. [4]
Sources:
[1] Mark Rothko: Biography from Answers.com
[2] Mark Rothko, his paintings, life, and biography
[3] The Art Story - The Life, Works, and Analysis of Mark Rothko
[4] Mark Rothko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia