Jul 26, 2021
Jun 28, 2007
Jul 26, 2021

No. 2 (Red Maroons)

No. 2 (Red Maroons)

1962

Mark Rothko

(American, 1903–1970)

Oil on canvas

Framed: 202 x 207 x 3.5 cm (79 1/2 x 81 1/2 x 1 3/8 in.); Unframed: 200.7 x 205.7 cm (79 x 81 in.)

Contemporary Collection and Friends of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1962.239

Did you know?

Rothko once stated, “A painting is not a picture of an experience, but is the experience.”

Description

When asked to explain the aims of his art, Rothko famously answered, "I'm interested only in expressing basic human emotions - tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on. . . ." Most of the artist's mature works feature diffuse areas of color appearing to float against a background of different hue. A painstaking craftsperson, Rothko typically applied several layers of diluted paint to each canvas, sometimes rubbing the wet surfaces gently with cloths, in order to achieve his ethereal effects.

Video

An Emotional Experience
How Did the Artist Create His Paintings?
Mark Rothko and His Work
See also

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