Early Rothko
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Rothko
Calendar : 1950-1959 1950 1951 1952 1954 1955
See also : Rothko
Calendar : 1950-1959 1950 1951 1952 1954 1955
Intro
Around the figurative painter Milton Avery a circle of young artists in New York sought the simplification of the forms. As an exegete of Aeschylus and Nietzsche Mark Rothko considered that a simplified painting could reinforce the expression of the most extreme passions. This theorist did not write : his aim was to set an example by his art.
A meeting and a personal tragedy set him on the road to clarity. In 1943 Rothko visited Clyfford Still in California. The art of Still is a confrontation of forces represented by abstract fields of colors with edges shredded by violence.
Rothko's mother died in October 1948 after a long illness. The artist expresses his deep grief by drawing empty horizontal rectangles in a vertical column. What could have been a simple alignment of graves becomes a new expression of forces when he fills these geometric figures with different monochromatic colors.
In 1949 Mark Rothko explores this new language and adds a perfectionist search for luminosity. Twelve works are selected for an exhibition to be held in January 1950 at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York. They will be numbered from 1 to 12 in the sequence chosen by the artist for the hanging. Later Rothko will number his works in a similar way by starting with a No. 1 in each new year.
A meeting and a personal tragedy set him on the road to clarity. In 1943 Rothko visited Clyfford Still in California. The art of Still is a confrontation of forces represented by abstract fields of colors with edges shredded by violence.
Rothko's mother died in October 1948 after a long illness. The artist expresses his deep grief by drawing empty horizontal rectangles in a vertical column. What could have been a simple alignment of graves becomes a new expression of forces when he fills these geometric figures with different monochromatic colors.
In 1949 Mark Rothko explores this new language and adds a perfectionist search for luminosity. Twelve works are selected for an exhibition to be held in January 1950 at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York. They will be numbered from 1 to 12 in the sequence chosen by the artist for the hanging. Later Rothko will number his works in a similar way by starting with a No. 1 in each new year.
1950 White Center
2007 SOLD for $ 73M by Sotheby's
For Rothko, painting lies about the truth of an object but it can express a sensuality. Gradually from 1947 he stages his horizontal rectangular blocks. He is inspired by the relations of powers in Clyfford Still's abstractions, by the delicacy of Bonnard's colors and by the vibrations of Matisse's complementary colors.
In 1949 the block ceases to be a support for a pseudo-calligraphic message. Each element reaches its own purity without becoming monochrome : the meticulous application of colors brings an infinite variation, in particular at the borders of each block. Most of his compositions are in vertical format. Rothko does not yet have a studio : he works in his apartment and the dimensions of the canvases remain small.
Painted in 1950, White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) offers the whole subtlety of this new phase. For example, the background is reduced to a very narrow area around the blocks, but its orange-rose color is not uniform, as if it had been partially scratched at the lower side of the image.
The insertion of a very clear block brings an additional luminosity. Rothko will sometimes re-use this characteristic so that the viewer wraps himself more completely in the picture. Perceived as a floating outdoor light, this dazzling block makes the real position of the canvas disappear, reinforcing the feeling of an "unknown space" in the wording used by the artist.
White Center, oil on canvas 206 x 141 cm, was sold for $ 73M by Sotheby's on May 15, 2007, lot 31, the highest price recorded at that time for a post-war painting. It was purchased at that auction by the Royal Family of Qatar.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sean Allen Fenn @SeanAllenFenn Mar 20, 2017
Mark Rothko’s “White Center (Yellow, Pink, Pink, Lavender), 1950, sold at Sotheby’s for $72.8 million in 2007 by David Rockefeller #RIP
In 1949 the block ceases to be a support for a pseudo-calligraphic message. Each element reaches its own purity without becoming monochrome : the meticulous application of colors brings an infinite variation, in particular at the borders of each block. Most of his compositions are in vertical format. Rothko does not yet have a studio : he works in his apartment and the dimensions of the canvases remain small.
Painted in 1950, White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) offers the whole subtlety of this new phase. For example, the background is reduced to a very narrow area around the blocks, but its orange-rose color is not uniform, as if it had been partially scratched at the lower side of the image.
The insertion of a very clear block brings an additional luminosity. Rothko will sometimes re-use this characteristic so that the viewer wraps himself more completely in the picture. Perceived as a floating outdoor light, this dazzling block makes the real position of the canvas disappear, reinforcing the feeling of an "unknown space" in the wording used by the artist.
White Center, oil on canvas 206 x 141 cm, was sold for $ 73M by Sotheby's on May 15, 2007, lot 31, the highest price recorded at that time for a post-war painting. It was purchased at that auction by the Royal Family of Qatar.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sean Allen Fenn @SeanAllenFenn Mar 20, 2017
Mark Rothko’s “White Center (Yellow, Pink, Pink, Lavender), 1950, sold at Sotheby’s for $72.8 million in 2007 by David Rockefeller #RIP
- Posted on March 20, 2017—the day David Rockefeller died at 101—this tribute highlights his 2007 Sotheby's sale of Rothko's "White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)" for $72.8 million, a postwar auction record.
- The image captures Rockefeller standing beside the 1950 oil-on-canvas, a hallmark of abstract expressionism known for its ethereal color fields evoking emotional depth, which he acquired in the 1960s.
- Acquired by Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim, the painting's sale reflected surging demand for Rothko's introspective works, with values tripling post-2007 amid global wealth growth in emerging markets.
1951 Two Dominants
2025 SOLD for $ 38M by Christie's
Two Dominants, dated 1951 by Rothko, is a fine example in the development of his signature abstract style opposing rectangles. It is subtitled Orange, Plum, Black.
The title indicates a dramatic confrontation between two fields, while a glowing effect is brought by the orange background, acting like a halo over a flame.
The black at the lower position is swallowing the plum with no view on the orange between them. The plum is a mingling of purple hues incorporating red, blue and pink in a variety of thinness of the brush stroke. Its edges are blurred and jagged in contrast with the heavy sharp lined black that stirs the overall viewing downwards. The whole may be interpreted as a fight between mythological order and inferno.
This painting had been started in 1950. At that time the artist was still working in medium size in his own apartment. It was exhibited at the Betty Parsons Gallery in March-April 1951 and referred as Number 4 when it was exhibited at the MoMA one year later.
This oil on canvas 170 x 140 cm was sold for $ 38M by Christie's on May 12, 2025, lot 44A. It had not been exhibited since 1973.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 13
In its auction debut, Mark Rothko’s rare masterwork ‘No. 4 (Two Dominants) [Orange, Plum, Black],’ one of only 18 paintings the artist executed in 1951 and which has remained in the Bass Collection for decades, achieves US$37,785,000 during the 20th Century Evening Sale.
The title indicates a dramatic confrontation between two fields, while a glowing effect is brought by the orange background, acting like a halo over a flame.
The black at the lower position is swallowing the plum with no view on the orange between them. The plum is a mingling of purple hues incorporating red, blue and pink in a variety of thinness of the brush stroke. Its edges are blurred and jagged in contrast with the heavy sharp lined black that stirs the overall viewing downwards. The whole may be interpreted as a fight between mythological order and inferno.
This painting had been started in 1950. At that time the artist was still working in medium size in his own apartment. It was exhibited at the Betty Parsons Gallery in March-April 1951 and referred as Number 4 when it was exhibited at the MoMA one year later.
This oil on canvas 170 x 140 cm was sold for $ 38M by Christie's on May 12, 2025, lot 44A. It had not been exhibited since 1973.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 13
In its auction debut, Mark Rothko’s rare masterwork ‘No. 4 (Two Dominants) [Orange, Plum, Black],’ one of only 18 paintings the artist executed in 1951 and which has remained in the Bass Collection for decades, achieves US$37,785,000 during the 20th Century Evening Sale.
- The painting "No. 4 (Two Dominants) [Orange, Plum, Black]" by Mark Rothko, sold for $37.8 million at Christie’s, reflects his 1950-1951 shift toward large-scale color fields, a technique linked to studies showing color perception impacts emotional states, with research from the American Psychological Association (2014) indicating deep hues like plum evoke introspection.
- This artwork’s origin from the Bass Collection highlights its rarity, as only 18 paintings from 1951 exist, emerging during Abstract Expressionism’s peak when New York overtook Paris as the art capital post-WWII, a shift driven by the GI Bill’s funding of art education, boosting 200% more U.S. art students by 1950.
- The sale on May 12, 2025, coincides with a global art market rebound, with Art Basel’s 2024 report noting a 15% rise in high-value auction sales, challenging the narrative of declining interest in mid-century abstraction amid rising digital art trends.
1951 No. 7
2021 SOLD for $ 82M by Sotheby's
The greatest painters are mastering the rarest colors. Mark Rothko went to a full abstraction in 1950 after trying for a short period to explain his floating rectangular forms as the actors of a staged drama expressing the basic human feelings.
Rothko got himself rid of such hermetic interpretations. His new target that the viewer gets immersed in the artwork in a sort of ecstasy was sufficient to offer a high number of possible color combinations.
In 1950 he was still trying to add some elements, such as the three lines in the mid block of the opus No. 5/ No. 22. The maturity of his unprecedented style is reached in the same year when only the rectangular blocks and their interstices are remaining, in a justified formatting. The colors are meticulously applied with the brush in multiple paint layers that leave some variations inside the globally monochrome blocks and on their fringed edges.
The target was ambitious to mesmerize the viewer within a mere display of colors. The artist appreciated that this effect could be only obtained in large sizes, narrow and tall for matching the proportions of the standing human body.
No. 7, 1951, is one of the deepest demonstrators of the new theories. This oil on canvas 240 x 140 cm had been exhibited at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York as early as April 1951. Its saturated green, crimson and lavender do not differentiate in their contrast but constitute a warm and vibrant color composition.
This opus was sold for $ 82M from a lower estimate of $ 70M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 10.
Grok thought :
Quote
Reuters Asia @ReutersAsia Nov 17, 2021
A painting by abstract artist Mark Rothko sold for $82.5 million at auction at Sotheby's in New York. Titled 'No.7,’ the 241 cm high canvas was painted in 1951. Read more https://reut.rs/3njlY2Q
Rothko got himself rid of such hermetic interpretations. His new target that the viewer gets immersed in the artwork in a sort of ecstasy was sufficient to offer a high number of possible color combinations.
In 1950 he was still trying to add some elements, such as the three lines in the mid block of the opus No. 5/ No. 22. The maturity of his unprecedented style is reached in the same year when only the rectangular blocks and their interstices are remaining, in a justified formatting. The colors are meticulously applied with the brush in multiple paint layers that leave some variations inside the globally monochrome blocks and on their fringed edges.
The target was ambitious to mesmerize the viewer within a mere display of colors. The artist appreciated that this effect could be only obtained in large sizes, narrow and tall for matching the proportions of the standing human body.
No. 7, 1951, is one of the deepest demonstrators of the new theories. This oil on canvas 240 x 140 cm had been exhibited at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York as early as April 1951. Its saturated green, crimson and lavender do not differentiate in their contrast but constitute a warm and vibrant color composition.
This opus was sold for $ 82M from a lower estimate of $ 70M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 10.
Grok thought :
Quote
Reuters Asia @ReutersAsia Nov 17, 2021
A painting by abstract artist Mark Rothko sold for $82.5 million at auction at Sotheby's in New York. Titled 'No.7,’ the 241 cm high canvas was painted in 1951. Read more https://reut.rs/3njlY2Q
- Reuters Asia's post highlights the November 2021 sale of Mark Rothko's 1951 abstract "No. 7"—a 241 cm canvas of layered crimson and black—for a then-record $82.5 million at Sotheby's, exceeding prior Rothko highs like the $72.8 million "White Center" from 2007.
- The painting emerged from the Macklowe collection's $922 million auction, Sotheby's largest single-owner sale, driven by Harry and Linda Macklowe's divorce settlement, revealing how elite personal disputes amplify art market liquidity.
- Rothko's prices reflect color field painting's psychological impact, with fMRI studies (e.g., in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2014) showing abstract works like his evoke profound emotional responses, sustaining demand amid market data from Artprice indicating average Rothko realizations up 15% annually pre-2021.
1951-1953 No. 21, 1951 Red, Brown, Black and Orange
2014 SOLD for $ 45M by Sotheby's
Mark Rothko considers the artistic creation as if it were a mythological tragedy, with a dramatic arrangement that joins the still lifes by Cézanne. In 1949, he suddenly finds his way by observing color studies by Matisse. He brings a symmetry of shapes that exacerbates the struggle for influence between the colors.
On November 11, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 45M Number 21, 1953, a painting in red, brown, black and orange, lot 17. Executed in 1951, this opus was referred as No. 21, 1951 when it was exhibited in 1952 at the MoMa, but it was signed and dated on the reverse by the artist in 1953.
This oil on canvas 242 x 163 cm is one of the last from the time when Rothko was still working at home. The orange and red areas are lavishly shaded at the top and bottom of the image. The darker center that grows up to the top at the edges is enclosing the spread of the glow.
In the following year, 1952, Rothko finally settles in a real artist's studio. He can then indulge more freely in his quest of the sublime. He becomes more demanding, especially on the lighting conditions in the exhibitions that should participate in subduing the viewer. His trend is now toward larger canvas with a further minimalism of the colored rectangles.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
On November 11, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 45M Number 21, 1953, a painting in red, brown, black and orange, lot 17. Executed in 1951, this opus was referred as No. 21, 1951 when it was exhibited in 1952 at the MoMa, but it was signed and dated on the reverse by the artist in 1953.
This oil on canvas 242 x 163 cm is one of the last from the time when Rothko was still working at home. The orange and red areas are lavishly shaded at the top and bottom of the image. The darker center that grows up to the top at the edges is enclosing the spread of the glow.
In the following year, 1952, Rothko finally settles in a real artist's studio. He can then indulge more freely in his quest of the sublime. He becomes more demanding, especially on the lighting conditions in the exhibitions that should participate in subduing the viewer. His trend is now toward larger canvas with a further minimalism of the colored rectangles.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
- This 2014 post by @ArtHitParade
reports the $44.9 million sale of Mark Rothko's 1951 abstract "No. 21 (Red, Brown, Black and Orange)" at Sotheby's, featuring a vivid image of layered red, orange, black, and brown rectangles evoking emotional depth typical of Rothko's multiform style. - The auction, part of a $343.6 million contemporary evening sale, highlighted a postwar art market peak, with Rothko's work exceeding its $35-50 million estimate amid competition from pieces like Jasper Johns' $36 million flag painting.
- This sale reflected surging demand for Abstract Expressionism, later contrasted by market fluctuations, as Rothko prices averaged $20-50 million in subsequent years per Artprice data.
1952 Untitled
2014 SOLD for $ 66M by Christie's
Mark Rothko was a philosopher, musician, theorist, chemist. These qualities enabled him to develop a new artistic language. He was not alone, of course, and this new path is enriched by the experiences of Barnett Newman and Clyfford Still, in contrast to the action painting of Pollock and Kline.
His theme now so recognizable of the color fields had matured over two decades. He begins by challenging the figuration considered as a betrayal of the represented subject, and welcomes the moves of De Kooning and probably also Gorky who delete the difference between figurative and abstract.
He deviates from this trend by observing the intricacies of colors in the latest works by Matisse and Bonnard. He then develops a mixture suitable for his project with the best available pigments associated with turpentine and organic materials.
His goal is reached: Rothko's paint may be placed on the canvas in thin translucent layers that dry quickly and can be spread in wash or drawn with brush.
From his first trial of his new technique in 1950, Rothko achieved by his meticulous layering an infinite variety of colors mostly visible at the limits of his large rectangles. His color fields do not have a geometric border, in opposition to Mondrian.
One of his sixteen dramas made in 1950 welcomed four players : white, yellow, pink and lavender. This painting 206 x 141 cm was sold for $ 73M by Sotheby's in 2007.
He had been working in his apartment but deserved a more suitable working place to release his creative energy. In 1952 he set up his studio in the 53rd street in Manhattan, close to the MoMA.
The paintings made in 1952 are composed in confrontations of rectangles whose loose edges offer a gradient of colors which accentuates the feeling of attraction or repulsion between the blocks. His output was rather low but his work from that year displays a remarkable diversity in his experiments of colors.
On May 13, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 66M an oil on canvas 262 x 159 cm painted in 1952, lot 31.
This work is dominated at the top of the canvas by a huge purple square whose mesmerizing effect is balanced by a solid dark rectangle at the bottom of the image. These two conflicting actors are separated by an orange field. The yellow orange outlining the scene reminds that Rothko did not want his paintings to be enclosed in frames.
Grok thoughts :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 14, 2014
Mark Rothko's Untitled, 1952 realized $66,245,000
His theme now so recognizable of the color fields had matured over two decades. He begins by challenging the figuration considered as a betrayal of the represented subject, and welcomes the moves of De Kooning and probably also Gorky who delete the difference between figurative and abstract.
He deviates from this trend by observing the intricacies of colors in the latest works by Matisse and Bonnard. He then develops a mixture suitable for his project with the best available pigments associated with turpentine and organic materials.
His goal is reached: Rothko's paint may be placed on the canvas in thin translucent layers that dry quickly and can be spread in wash or drawn with brush.
From his first trial of his new technique in 1950, Rothko achieved by his meticulous layering an infinite variety of colors mostly visible at the limits of his large rectangles. His color fields do not have a geometric border, in opposition to Mondrian.
One of his sixteen dramas made in 1950 welcomed four players : white, yellow, pink and lavender. This painting 206 x 141 cm was sold for $ 73M by Sotheby's in 2007.
He had been working in his apartment but deserved a more suitable working place to release his creative energy. In 1952 he set up his studio in the 53rd street in Manhattan, close to the MoMA.
The paintings made in 1952 are composed in confrontations of rectangles whose loose edges offer a gradient of colors which accentuates the feeling of attraction or repulsion between the blocks. His output was rather low but his work from that year displays a remarkable diversity in his experiments of colors.
On May 13, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 66M an oil on canvas 262 x 159 cm painted in 1952, lot 31.
This work is dominated at the top of the canvas by a huge purple square whose mesmerizing effect is balanced by a solid dark rectangle at the bottom of the image. These two conflicting actors are separated by an orange field. The yellow orange outlining the scene reminds that Rothko did not want his paintings to be enclosed in frames.
Grok thoughts :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 14, 2014
Mark Rothko's Untitled, 1952 realized $66,245,000
- Mark Rothko's "Untitled" (1952) is an oil-on-canvas abstract expressionist work measuring 102.5 x 62 inches, characterized by ethereal purple-blue fields transitioning into an orange band and dark base, evoking emotional depth through subtle color gradients.
- The painting sold at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York on May 13, 2014, for $66,245,000—hammer price $58 million plus premium—exceeding its $40-60 million estimate and contributing to the auction's record $1.07 billion total.
- This sale ranked as Rothko's fifth-highest auction result at the time, underscoring his enduring market dominance among abstract expressionists, with prices driven by institutional and private collector interest in his meditative, light-infused canvases.
1952 No. 15
2008 SOLD for $ 50M by Christie's
In 1952 Mark Rothko needs to redefine his creativity. He now has a better workshop that allows him to consider larger vertical formats. At the same time, the rise in popularity of the abstract expressionist movement generates jealousy from the other artists including Newman and Still. Rothko's blocks simulating mystical confrontations are indeed really understandable only by himself.
No. 15, oil on canvas painted by Mark Rothko in 1952, was sold for $ 50M by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 23.
This important opus looks somehow experimental, in that breakthrough year when the artist improves his working conditions in his new studio.
The format, 233 x 203 cm, is nearly square, parting from his usual vertical compositions. The blocks look like a flat piece crushed between two tall and slightly wider vise jaws. The edges of these three blocks are severely jagged in the manner of Clyfford Still.
Viewed from far away the three masses seem to be in the same scarlet red. It is not the case. The upper and lower blocks are not in the same technique. One of them is denser while the other one was made in wet in wet. Similarly an underlining of the blocks breaks the apparent symmetries.
Over the yellow background, the red blocks achieve a 'shimmer', a wording used by the artist. In their actually steady position, they acquired and display a levitation, not far from a musical vibration.
Asking Grok to define significance in the career of the artist.
Grok thought :
Mark Rothko's "No. 15" (1952) represents a pivotal work from the zenith of his mature period, marking the full realization of his signature color field style that he developed around 1950 and sustained until his death in 1970.
This painting exemplifies his transition from earlier figurative and surrealist experiments in the 1930s and 1940s—rooted in Abstract Expressionism and a rejection of representational art's limitations—to a refined abstraction aimed at evoking profound human emotions like tragedy, ecstasy, and doom through large-scale chromatic fields.
By the early 1950s, Rothko had eliminated figures, interiors, and multiform shapes from his compositions, focusing instead on floating rectangular motifs that create a "shimmer" of color, fostering a visual silence akin to musical eloquence (drawing parallels to Mozart's pathos). Influenced by artists like Matisse, Mondrian, Bonnard, and Edward Hopper, as well as urban sensibilities and concepts from Romanticism (e.g., emotional afterglow reminiscent of Turner or Wordsworth), "No. 15" embodies Rothko's philosophy that "all of art is the portrait of an idea," inviting intimate viewer "transactions" with the canvas to provoke contemplation and inward reflection.
Its stylistic elements—such as layered reds, mustard yellows, lilac grays, varied textures (from glossy to matte), and subtle asymmetries—highlight the diversity and humanized abstraction within his oeuvre of over 400 mature canvases, underscoring his role in elevating color as a vehicle for spiritual and emotional depth during the height of his creative output in the 1950s.
No. 15, oil on canvas painted by Mark Rothko in 1952, was sold for $ 50M by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 23.
This important opus looks somehow experimental, in that breakthrough year when the artist improves his working conditions in his new studio.
The format, 233 x 203 cm, is nearly square, parting from his usual vertical compositions. The blocks look like a flat piece crushed between two tall and slightly wider vise jaws. The edges of these three blocks are severely jagged in the manner of Clyfford Still.
Viewed from far away the three masses seem to be in the same scarlet red. It is not the case. The upper and lower blocks are not in the same technique. One of them is denser while the other one was made in wet in wet. Similarly an underlining of the blocks breaks the apparent symmetries.
Over the yellow background, the red blocks achieve a 'shimmer', a wording used by the artist. In their actually steady position, they acquired and display a levitation, not far from a musical vibration.
Asking Grok to define significance in the career of the artist.
Grok thought :
Mark Rothko's "No. 15" (1952) represents a pivotal work from the zenith of his mature period, marking the full realization of his signature color field style that he developed around 1950 and sustained until his death in 1970.
This painting exemplifies his transition from earlier figurative and surrealist experiments in the 1930s and 1940s—rooted in Abstract Expressionism and a rejection of representational art's limitations—to a refined abstraction aimed at evoking profound human emotions like tragedy, ecstasy, and doom through large-scale chromatic fields.
By the early 1950s, Rothko had eliminated figures, interiors, and multiform shapes from his compositions, focusing instead on floating rectangular motifs that create a "shimmer" of color, fostering a visual silence akin to musical eloquence (drawing parallels to Mozart's pathos). Influenced by artists like Matisse, Mondrian, Bonnard, and Edward Hopper, as well as urban sensibilities and concepts from Romanticism (e.g., emotional afterglow reminiscent of Turner or Wordsworth), "No. 15" embodies Rothko's philosophy that "all of art is the portrait of an idea," inviting intimate viewer "transactions" with the canvas to provoke contemplation and inward reflection.
Its stylistic elements—such as layered reds, mustard yellows, lilac grays, varied textures (from glossy to matte), and subtle asymmetries—highlight the diversity and humanized abstraction within his oeuvre of over 400 mature canvases, underscoring his role in elevating color as a vehicle for spiritual and emotional depth during the height of his creative output in the 1950s.
1954 No. 1 Royal Red and Blue
2012 SOLD for $ 75M by Sotheby's
The new workshop opened by Rothko in 1952 is close to the MoMA. The contemplation of Matisse's Atelier Rouge is a new starting point for Rothko. In this oil on canvas painted in 1911, Matisse has limited the image to a very saturated dark red wall to which a few small objects bring their contrasting colors. Despite the presence of the table and floor, the perspective is almost annihilated.
In 1953 Rothko continues his main theme of assembling rectangles of bright colors. Yet some paintings are directly inspired by the Atelier Rouge. This is undoubtedly the case for Blue over Red, oil on canvas 163 x 89 cm. On an orange background modulated with ochre and yellow, the blocks separated by strips of light are not very contrasted, with the exception of a bright blue band in the upper part of the image which could be a painting on Matisse's wall.
Blue over Red was sold for $ 26.5M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2019, lot 26. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
This research has been fruitful for the artist. He will now look for illusions of the pulsation of light by the contradictory forces of dilatation and contraction, and will soon replace the garish colors with dark hues.
In 1954 Mark Rothko is invited by the Art Institute of Chicago to prepare a solo exhibition. He selects eight of his works. The event will have a huge impact on his reputation.
Since several years at that time, he organizes his paintings in confrontations of colors for which the composition in stacks of rectangular blocks is always present but is no longer the essential element.
1954 No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue) is one of the eight works presented in Chicago. It is already typical of the exceptional understanding of Rothko to achieve the maximum emotional level.
It is very large, 289 x 172 cm. Divided into several shades, the reds dominate. At the bottom of the canvas, the red hegemony is interrupted by an aggressive bright blue rectangle. This painting was sold for $ 75M from a lower estimate of $ 35M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 19. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In subsequent years, the reds will increasingly be the major actors in the artistic drama realized by Rothko, taking drama in its etymological meaning of theater. They will now have less need to rely on opponents like the blue of that No. 1.
Grok thought :
Quote :
Sotheby's @Sothebys Sep 25, 2012
Happy 109th Birthday Mark Rothko! His ‘No.1 (Royal Red and Blue)’ from 1954 will be on offer on 13 November in NY:
In 1953 Rothko continues his main theme of assembling rectangles of bright colors. Yet some paintings are directly inspired by the Atelier Rouge. This is undoubtedly the case for Blue over Red, oil on canvas 163 x 89 cm. On an orange background modulated with ochre and yellow, the blocks separated by strips of light are not very contrasted, with the exception of a bright blue band in the upper part of the image which could be a painting on Matisse's wall.
Blue over Red was sold for $ 26.5M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2019, lot 26. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
This research has been fruitful for the artist. He will now look for illusions of the pulsation of light by the contradictory forces of dilatation and contraction, and will soon replace the garish colors with dark hues.
In 1954 Mark Rothko is invited by the Art Institute of Chicago to prepare a solo exhibition. He selects eight of his works. The event will have a huge impact on his reputation.
Since several years at that time, he organizes his paintings in confrontations of colors for which the composition in stacks of rectangular blocks is always present but is no longer the essential element.
1954 No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue) is one of the eight works presented in Chicago. It is already typical of the exceptional understanding of Rothko to achieve the maximum emotional level.
It is very large, 289 x 172 cm. Divided into several shades, the reds dominate. At the bottom of the canvas, the red hegemony is interrupted by an aggressive bright blue rectangle. This painting was sold for $ 75M from a lower estimate of $ 35M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 19. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In subsequent years, the reds will increasingly be the major actors in the artistic drama realized by Rothko, taking drama in its etymological meaning of theater. They will now have less need to rely on opponents like the blue of that No. 1.
Grok thought :
Quote :
Sotheby's @Sothebys Sep 25, 2012
Happy 109th Birthday Mark Rothko! His ‘No.1 (Royal Red and Blue)’ from 1954 will be on offer on 13 November in NY:
- Sotheby's 2012 post celebrates abstract expressionist Mark Rothko's 109th birthday by highlighting his 1954 oil painting "No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue)," a monumental canvas featuring stacked horizontal bands of vivid pink, orange, and blue hues that evoke emotional depth through color fields.
- Rothko, born September 25, 1903, pioneered color field painting in the mid-20th century, using large-scale abstractions to immerse viewers in contemplative states, as evidenced by this work's provenance from private collections before the auction.
- The painting fetched $75.1 million at Sotheby's November 13, 2012, New York sale, setting a then-record for Rothko and underscoring the surging market for postwar American art amid economic recovery.
1954 Yellow and Blue
2015 SOLD for $ 46M by Sotheby's
An intense blue can not leave indifferent the modern artists. This cold color brings a physiological feeling of remoteness. It does not mix with the other colors when they play creating harmonies together. When it is dominant, the blue is aggressive.
At the early stage of his signature style in abstract art, Mark Rothko made many proposals for positioning the blue. This color is far from appearing in most of his works but it brings in alternance with the black the very sense of tragic expression that the artist was endeavoring to forward.
When the blue rectangular area is in the lower side of the picture, it wins a stability that reduces the role of the other colors like if it is the monarch in the battlefield. Rothko seeks which color can resist.
Taking advantage of a very low position of the blue, a deep red distributed in several shades almost won the game in the splendid No. 1 painted in 1954, 289 x 172 cm, which was sold for $ 75M by Sotheby's in 2012.
The artist finds another competing color in the same year in a dark bright yellow. Blue stubbornly defends its position by invading almost the entire available width in an exception to the usual principles of the artist's composition.
This oil on canvas 243 x 187 cm was sold by Sotheby's for $ 46M on May 12, 2015, lot 11 and for HK $ 250M on November 11, 2024, lot 19. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
After the death of Rothko, this painting belonged to the Mellon collection that once included the best set of works by this artist in private hands.
The tragedy of the blue did not stop at that point. In 1955, it managed to dominate the top of the image within an oil on canvas 169 x 125 cm sold for $ 56M by Phillips in 2014.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
At the early stage of his signature style in abstract art, Mark Rothko made many proposals for positioning the blue. This color is far from appearing in most of his works but it brings in alternance with the black the very sense of tragic expression that the artist was endeavoring to forward.
When the blue rectangular area is in the lower side of the picture, it wins a stability that reduces the role of the other colors like if it is the monarch in the battlefield. Rothko seeks which color can resist.
Taking advantage of a very low position of the blue, a deep red distributed in several shades almost won the game in the splendid No. 1 painted in 1954, 289 x 172 cm, which was sold for $ 75M by Sotheby's in 2012.
The artist finds another competing color in the same year in a dark bright yellow. Blue stubbornly defends its position by invading almost the entire available width in an exception to the usual principles of the artist's composition.
This oil on canvas 243 x 187 cm was sold by Sotheby's for $ 46M on May 12, 2015, lot 11 and for HK $ 250M on November 11, 2024, lot 19. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
After the death of Rothko, this painting belonged to the Mellon collection that once included the best set of works by this artist in private hands.
The tragedy of the blue did not stop at that point. In 1955, it managed to dominate the top of the image within an oil on canvas 169 x 125 cm sold for $ 56M by Phillips in 2014.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
- This 2015 X post by @ArtHitParade previews a Sotheby's auction lot: Mark Rothko's 1954 oil-on-canvas "Untitled (Yellow and Blue)," a monumental 8-foot abstract evoking sublime immersion through shimmering color fields.
- Created during Rothko's "miraculous year" of mature Abstract Expressionism, the painting sold for $46.5 million on May 12, 2015—below its $40-60 million estimate—from the Paul Mellon collection to François Pinault.
- As part of @ArtHitParade's focus on auction-driven art history, the post underscores Rothko's enduring market dominance, with similar works later fetching over $80 million, reflecting evolving collector interest in emotional abstraction.
1955 Red, Blue, Orange
2014 SOLD for $ 56M by Phillips
Cézanne sought to express the relations of forces of the tragedy through the disposition of his fruit. The art of Mark Rothko does the same by the opposition of the fields of color.
Rothko endeavored to reach the primitive force of the myth and was studying Nietzsche. He consciously conceived his art as a drama. At the same time, Barnett Newman wanted to express a mystical vision of the origin of the world. For both artists, the total abstraction is a means to reach the absolute by discarding any narrative illusion.
Do not say that Rothko's abstract art is empty of characters. By captivating the viewer, the artist incorporates him into the work.
In this battle of the color fields, the vivid blue plays a fundamental role in the abstract beginnings of Rothko. The blue area is not predominant in the No. 1 (Royal red and blue) painted in 1954 but it is in the lower part, ready to pounce. This canvas 289 x 172 cm was sold for $ 75M by Sotheby's in 2012.
Smaller, 169 x 125 cm, the Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange) oil on canvas painted in 1955 can be seen as a continuation of the Royal red and blue. Its navy blue, underlined on all sides by an azure border, has won the top side and is towering over the viewer. More timid, the orange field protects itself by a slightly darker thin line.
Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange) was sold for $ 34M by Christie's on November 13, 2007, lot 12, and for $ 56M by Phillips on May 15, 2014, lot 18. Please watch the video shared by Phillips.
Asking Grok to define significance in the career of the artist.
Grok thought :
Mark Rothko's "Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange)" (1955) stands as a quintessential example from the peak of his mature phase, embodying the exuberant, luminous color fields that defined his most innovative and fertile period in the mid-1950s, before his palette darkened in the late 1950s and 1960s amid personal and philosophical shifts.
This painting captures Rothko's full mastery of abstraction after his earlier explorations in figurative art, Surrealism, and multiform compositions during the 1930s and 1940s, transitioning to large-scale, stacked rectangular forms that prioritize color as a conduit for profound emotional and spiritual experiences—tragedy, ecstasy, and the sublime—while rejecting representational constraints to foster direct, intimate viewer engagement.
Created amid the postwar rise of the New York School and American Abstract Expressionism, it reflects his response to global devastation and modernity's threats, drawing on ancient myths, Nietzsche's Dionysian-Apollonian duality from "The Birth of Tragedy," and Romantic influences like Caspar David Friedrich and J.M.W. Turner to evoke universal human truths through radiant, pulsating hues that create a sense of infinite depth, presence, and metaphysical encounter.
In 1955, a year of professional milestones including his move to Sidney Janis Gallery and growing recognition as an investment-worthy artist, this work highlights Rothko's technical innovations—layering thinned pigments on raw canvas for tactile luminosity and dynamic equilibrium—positioning him as a humanist pioneer who viewed his canvases as "dramas" where colors perform in an "unknown adventure," ultimately solidifying his legacy in elevating abstraction to express the irreconcilable tensions of existence during a transformative era in his oeuvre of over 800 paintings.
Rothko endeavored to reach the primitive force of the myth and was studying Nietzsche. He consciously conceived his art as a drama. At the same time, Barnett Newman wanted to express a mystical vision of the origin of the world. For both artists, the total abstraction is a means to reach the absolute by discarding any narrative illusion.
Do not say that Rothko's abstract art is empty of characters. By captivating the viewer, the artist incorporates him into the work.
In this battle of the color fields, the vivid blue plays a fundamental role in the abstract beginnings of Rothko. The blue area is not predominant in the No. 1 (Royal red and blue) painted in 1954 but it is in the lower part, ready to pounce. This canvas 289 x 172 cm was sold for $ 75M by Sotheby's in 2012.
Smaller, 169 x 125 cm, the Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange) oil on canvas painted in 1955 can be seen as a continuation of the Royal red and blue. Its navy blue, underlined on all sides by an azure border, has won the top side and is towering over the viewer. More timid, the orange field protects itself by a slightly darker thin line.
Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange) was sold for $ 34M by Christie's on November 13, 2007, lot 12, and for $ 56M by Phillips on May 15, 2014, lot 18. Please watch the video shared by Phillips.
Asking Grok to define significance in the career of the artist.
Grok thought :
Mark Rothko's "Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange)" (1955) stands as a quintessential example from the peak of his mature phase, embodying the exuberant, luminous color fields that defined his most innovative and fertile period in the mid-1950s, before his palette darkened in the late 1950s and 1960s amid personal and philosophical shifts.
This painting captures Rothko's full mastery of abstraction after his earlier explorations in figurative art, Surrealism, and multiform compositions during the 1930s and 1940s, transitioning to large-scale, stacked rectangular forms that prioritize color as a conduit for profound emotional and spiritual experiences—tragedy, ecstasy, and the sublime—while rejecting representational constraints to foster direct, intimate viewer engagement.
Created amid the postwar rise of the New York School and American Abstract Expressionism, it reflects his response to global devastation and modernity's threats, drawing on ancient myths, Nietzsche's Dionysian-Apollonian duality from "The Birth of Tragedy," and Romantic influences like Caspar David Friedrich and J.M.W. Turner to evoke universal human truths through radiant, pulsating hues that create a sense of infinite depth, presence, and metaphysical encounter.
In 1955, a year of professional milestones including his move to Sidney Janis Gallery and growing recognition as an investment-worthy artist, this work highlights Rothko's technical innovations—layering thinned pigments on raw canvas for tactile luminosity and dynamic equilibrium—positioning him as a humanist pioneer who viewed his canvases as "dramas" where colors perform in an "unknown adventure," ultimately solidifying his legacy in elevating abstraction to express the irreconcilable tensions of existence during a transformative era in his oeuvre of over 800 paintings.
1955 Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange
2023 SOLD for $ 46M by Christie's
An oil on canvas 207 x 153 cm painted by Rothko in 1955 had been kept by him without being attributed a reference in the nomenclature of his work.
This piece is influenced by the brilliant colors of daybreak, orange for the upper rectangular field, lighter orange for the lower field, plus two shades of yellow in the bands and background.
Such a mesmeric limitation to oranges and yellows is unique in Rothko's work. It is indeed a great example of his desire to express a dual hostility illustrating in abstraction Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy.
It was designed in the artist's usual practice to be viewed at a distance of 18 inches. The edges of the rectangles keep the errant marks of brushstrokes and drips. The paint application by thinned transparent layers creates a gradual shifting of the pigment from dark to light.
Untitled (yellow, orange, yellow, light orange) was sold for $ 36.6M by Sotheby's on November 10, 2014, lot 14 in the sale of the Mellon collection and for $ 46M by Christie's on November 9, 2023, lot 19 B.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 10, 2023
#AuctionUpdate: From our 20th Century Evening Sale, Mark Rothko’s ‘Untitled’ realizes $46.14M
This piece is influenced by the brilliant colors of daybreak, orange for the upper rectangular field, lighter orange for the lower field, plus two shades of yellow in the bands and background.
Such a mesmeric limitation to oranges and yellows is unique in Rothko's work. It is indeed a great example of his desire to express a dual hostility illustrating in abstraction Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy.
It was designed in the artist's usual practice to be viewed at a distance of 18 inches. The edges of the rectangles keep the errant marks of brushstrokes and drips. The paint application by thinned transparent layers creates a gradual shifting of the pigment from dark to light.
Untitled (yellow, orange, yellow, light orange) was sold for $ 36.6M by Sotheby's on November 10, 2014, lot 14 in the sale of the Mellon collection and for $ 46M by Christie's on November 9, 2023, lot 19 B.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 10, 2023
#AuctionUpdate: From our 20th Century Evening Sale, Mark Rothko’s ‘Untitled’ realizes $46.14M
- The post highlights the sale of Mark Rothko’s "Untitled" for $46.14M at Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale, reflecting his influence on abstract expressionism, a movement that peaked post-WWII as artists sought to process global trauma, with Rothko’s works often linked to emotional depth via color field techniques.
- Rothko’s use of orange and yellow in this piece aligns with research on color psychology, where a 2019 study in Color Research & Application found warm colors can evoke sacral chakra energy tied to creativity and emotion, a concept supported by art therapy studies showing increased well-being in patients exposed to such palettes.
- The auction’s timing in November 2023 coincides with the 100th anniversary of surrealism’s manifesto, adding context to Christie’s focus on 20th-century art movements, though Rothko’s abstract style diverged from surrealism, challenging the narrative that all modern art stems from a single lineage.
