Seeing Rothko

Edited by Glenn Phillips and Thomas Crow

"I am interested only in expressing basic human emotions: tragedy, ecstasy, doom," Mark Rothko (1903–1970) said of his paintings. "If you are moved only by their color relationships, then you miss the point."

Throughout his career, Rothko was concerned with what other people experienced when they looked at his canvases. As his work shifted from figurative imagery to luminous fields of color, his concern expanded to the setting in which his paintings were exhibited. In a series of analytic, personal, and even poetic essays by contemporary scholars, this volume explores the profound and varied responses elicited by Rothko's most compelling creations. This volume also reproduces, for the first time, a "Scribble Book," in which he jotted down his ideas on teaching art to children, and a sketchbook, both dating to the early years of the artist's career.

Seeing Rothko includes essays by David Antin, Dore Ashton, Thomas Crow, John Elderfield, Briony Fer, Charles Harrison, Miguel López-Remiro, Sarah Rich, and Jeffrey Weiss, an introduction by Glenn Phillips, and a bibliography of Rothko's own writings.

Thomas Crow is former director of the Getty Research Institute and professor of art history at the University of Southern California. Glenn Phillips is a research associate and consulting curator in Contemporary Programs and Research at the Getty Research Institute.

"Rich and engaging."
—The Bloomsbury Review

"Beautifully illustrated."
—The Art Book