Seeing Rothko

de Thomas E. Crow

This volume explores the profound and varied responses elicited by Russian-born American painter Mark Rothko's (1903-1970) most compelling creations. Rothko was classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter". Throughout his career, Rothko was concerned with what other people experienced when they looked at his canvases. As his work shifted from figurative imagery to luminous fields of color, his concern expanded to the setting in which his paintings were exhibited. In a series of analytic, personal, and even poetic essays by contemporary scholars, Rothko's works are analyzed. This volume also reproduces a "Scribble Book," in which Rothko jotted down his ideas on teaching art to children, and a sketchbook, both dating to the early years of the artist's career.