Mark Rothko

Rothko became associated with Color Field painting because his mature works use large areas of color rather than visible narrative or figure drawing. In paintings such as No. 61 (Rust and Blue) from 1953, stacked rectangles create a slow, immersive visual effect.

Look at the edges where one color meets another, because Rothko often made those borders soft, glowing, or unstable. His large canvases from the 1950s are usually meant to be seen close enough that the color fields fill much of your view.

The Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational chapel in Houston that opened in 1971 with a group of dark Rothko paintings. The project was commissioned by John and Dominique de Menil, and it remains one of the most important settings for seeing his late work.

Yes, Rothko is usually grouped with Abstract Expressionism, though his work looks very different from Jackson Pollock's drip paintings. Rothko's mature style is quieter and built around layered rectangular color fields rather than energetic gesture.