Annie Cohen-Solal

Mark Rothko, Toward the Light in the Chapel
By Annie Cohen-Solal

A short concise insightful biography of one of the great Abstract Expressionist painters of the 20th Century.

Escaping the pogroms of czarist Russia, he emigrated with his parents and siblings in 1913. He was a 10 year old Talmud Torah student from an assimilated family. By the age of 18 he had taught himself English and become one of the top students at his Portland, Oregon High School winning a full scholarship to Yale show more University.

Already he had established himself as an exceptional intellect with a drive towards serious study. Disappointed with his Yale classmates whom he saw as more interested in sports and parties he left, disillusioned after 2 years settling in NYC. There he discovered art, attending classes in Jewish Settlement Houses and the Arts Students League.

For many years he existed on a teacher’s salary while he engaged the NYC art scene. Among those he drew support and inspiration from: Clyfford Still, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Adolph Gottlieb, David Hare, Hans Hoffman, William de Kooning, William Baziotes, and Jackson Pollack. As a group many of them became known as The Irascibles, their name indicating the brashness and seriousness with which they took on the established art world dominated by European museums, galleries and artists.

As the 1940s came to an end Rothko’s work had transformed, his paintings became more abstract and the signature style we now know so well came to light. His work received recognition, he had several successful gallery exhibits with Betty Parsons, Leo Castelli and Sidney Janis. Both MOMA and Peggy Guggenheim recognized his importance and by the mid-50s he was considered a giant.

He was commissioned to provide a series of murals for the 4 Seasons Restaurant in the newly built Mies van der Rohe/Philip Johnson Seagrams skyscraper but as it neared completion his distaste for the moneyed class, that the rich would be eating while his work considered mere decoration resulted in his pulling out, returning the ample commission. Eventually these red murals found a permanent home at the Tate Galleries in London.

His culmination was the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. Commissioned by the de Menil family he dedicated the last years of his life to completing this masterpiece. He not only gave considerable attention to painting (using techniques from the Italian masters of the 1500s utilizing egg whites to help illuminate the paint from within) but also paid undue attention to the placement of his work, the lighting, all of which effected the viewer’s experience. What he searched for was a total experience for those who viewed his work; they become immersed and moved on a deep emotional level.

In the end, his health failing, a deep depression worsened by alcoholism, he committed suicide late at night alone in his studio. The de Menil Rothko Chapel opened the next year and became a spiritual destination for thousands of visitors including the Dali Lama, Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter.

Rothko’s inattention and disinterest to finances resulted in a decade long court battle over his estate. The Marlborough Gallery had become his sole representative and were found guilty of fraud. A family foundation was established, Rothko’s daughter and son took control of his legacy. A moving last scene in the book is their journey to their father’s birthplace, Daugavpils, Latvia where they established the Mark Rothko Art Center. show less

In this biographical study on Rothko, Annie Cohen-Solal searches an answer to the question if there is a relation to Mark Rothko's Jewish background and his development into abstract art. His Jewish roots connects him to other artists who also developed in this way. She went for her research to the city Dinsk, now Daugavpils in Letland, where Rothko was born in 1903. Although his father was a progressive pharmacist, he sent his youngest son to the traditionalTalmud school. Cohen-Solal brings show more this schooling on the interpretation of texts into connection with Rothko's later abstract art. Cohen-Solal makes plausible that painting for Rothko was foremost a philosophical activity. show less

Preparing to speak to a group that just read this title, I picked up Cohen-Solal's work so I could be on the same page as my audience . More than mere research for this talk, this book helped me with another project; I'm taking a class in Studio Painting: Oils and each week the non-studio assignment is to learn about two new-to-me artists.

I've seen prints and bookplates of Rothko's color field work and would LOVE to know how he created his magic, but had little knowledge of his life. Thus, show more he's new to me.

Beyond this happy double motivation, the text was dry, lacking in depth or any hint of sympathetic feeling. Rothko may not have been a warm person, but the sign of engaging biography is to make the subject come alive. It doesn't happen. show less

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