An entire tower for a single painter
This room occupies one of the towers of the National Gallery's East Building, designed by I. M. Pei and opened in 1978. It is devoted almost entirely to Mark Rothko, a Latvian-born painter who became a central figure of postwar American Abstract Expressionism, known for large fields of color with softened edges, meant to immerse the viewer rather than depict a subject.
1. A will emptied of meaning within months
Mark Rothko takes his own life in February 1970, leaving behind nearly 800 works. His three executors sign two agreements with the Marlborough Gallery a few months later: the sale of 100 paintings for $1.8 million, and the consignment of the remaining 698 — prices later judged scandalously low, as several works were resold almost immediately for six to ten times as much.
One of the three executors, Bernard Reis, turns out to also be a director, secretary and treasurer of the Marlborough Gallery itself — a blatant conflict of interest that Rothko's children, Kate and Christopher, take to court in New York.
2. A ruling that rebuilds the painter's legacy
On 18 December 1975, Judge Millard Midonick rules in favor of the Rothko children: the two negligent executors are removed from office and, together with the Marlborough Gallery, ordered to pay roughly $9.25 million in damages, and Marlborough is required to return 658 paintings not yet resold to bona fide buyers.
It is this recovered body of work that forms, through the Mark Rothko Foundation created to manage the estate, the core of the roughly 1,000-work gift made to the National Gallery of Art in 1986 — the largest public collection in the world devoted to this painter, born directly out of an estate scandal rather than a simple act of patronage.
How much time
Give your eyes time to adjust to the fields of color — these paintings, designed for long exhibition halls, read slowly, not at a glance.
- The Rothko Room as a whole — 15 minutes.
Sources and verification
Checked against the official notices of the National Gallery of Art (nga.gov) and cross-checked with Wikipedia EN/FR.
- National Gallery of Art — Mark Rothko
- National Gallery of Art — Who Is Mark Rothko? 9 Things to Know
- Wikipedia EN — Rothko case
- National Gallery of Art — Rothko Foundation, Inc., Mark, The (provenance)
Displays and room openings can change. Check the National Gallery of Art website on the day of your visit before following a route.
Listen to the commentary in the gallery
This route gives you a thread to follow. In front of an artwork, CulturAll adds the audio commentary: photograph the work or its label, listen, then ask your questions.
