Abstract painting “No. 7 or No. 11” (1949) by Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko (1903-1970) was a leading member of the abstract art movement known as the "New York School" and, alongside Jackson Pollock, is considered one of the two major figures of American Abstract Expressionism. Born Marcus Rothkowitz in Latvia, the painter emigrated to the United States with his family in 1913. From 1921 to 1923, Rothko was enrolled at Yale University. Even before graduating, he abandoned his initial plans to become a lawyer or engineer and moved to New York, where he studied at the Art Students League of New York. While his early works were expressive portraits, cityscapes, and landscapes, he developed a unique visual language over the course of his career: His large-format works, characterized by superimposed monochrome color fields, aim for precisely calculated effects of light and space, creating an almost meditative interaction between the painting and the viewer. Rothko also accepted the offer to develop a concept for an interfaith prayer space (the "Rothko Chapel" in Houston). A Rothko sculpture shapes a space and gives it a face—art can do no more than that.