Mark Rothko Oil Paintings

Mark Rothko, an abstract expressionist, was born in Russia to a highly-educated family. After leaving Russia to study at Yale, Rothko quickly found himself discouraged by the school’s elitist attitude and dropped out and moved to New York. Here he was able to gather much influence through school and New York’s artistic environment. He had his first one-man show in 1933 in Portland, Oregon and later returned to New York for another solo gallery show. Rothko paintings have been likened to those of Van Gogh, Matisse and Miro. His bold use of color and shapes distinguish Rothko from other artists, and makes his paintings extremely easy to recognize.