Mark Rothko (Jewish Lives)

Mark Rothko was not only one of the most influential American painters of the twentieth century; he was a scholar, an educator, and a deeply spiritual human being.  Born Marcus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz, he emigrated from the Russian Empire to the United States at age ten, already well educated in the Talmud and carrying with him bitter memories of the pogroms and persecutions visited upon the Jews of Lithuania. Few artists have achieved success as quickly, and by the mid-twentieth century, Rothko’s artwork was being displayed in major museums throughout the world. In May 2012 his painting Orange, Red, Yellow was auctioned for nearly $87 million, setting a new Christie’s record.
 
Working closely with the artist’s son, author Annie Cohen-Solal was granted unprecedented access to personal materials no previous biographer had seen. As a result, her book is an extraordinarily detailed portrait of Rothko the man and the artist, an uncommonly successful painter who was never comfortable with the idea of his art as a commodity.