Mark Rothko: Toward the Light in the Chapel Paperback - 2015

New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015. x, 282 pages, [8] leaves of plates, illustrations (some colour), map; 22 cm. Tight, clean copy. First thus. "Mark Rothko was not only one of the most influential American painters of the twentieth century; he was a scholar, an educator, and a deeply spiritual human being. Born Marcus Yakovlevich Rotkovitch, he emigrated from the Russian Empire to the United States at age ten, already well educated in the Talmud and carrying with him bitter memories of the pogroms and persecutions visited upon the Jews of Latvia. Few artists have achieved success as quickly, and by the mid-twentieth century, Rothko's artwork was being displayed in major museums throughout the world. In May 2012 his painting Orange, Red, Yellow was auctioned for nearly $87 million, setting a new Christie's record. Author Annie Cohen-Solal gained access to archival materials no previous biographer had seen. As a result, her book is an extraordinarily detailed portrait of Rothko the man and the artist, an uncommonly successful painter who was never comfortable with the idea of his art as a commodity" - Publisher. CONTENTS: The charismatic Yacov Rotkovich: a Jew of the empire, 1903-1913; A diligent student in Portland, Oregon: 1913-1921; The years of chaos: 1921-1928; The metamorphosis of Marcus Rothkowitz: 1928-1940; In search of a new Golden Age: 1940-1944; Between Surrealism and Abstraction: 1944-1947; Toward absolute Abstraction: 1947-1949; With the rebel painters, a pioneer: 1949-1953; The avant-garde Jewish painter and his journey of dispersion: 1954-1958; From a luxury skyscraper to a medieval chapel: the first anchoring in Britain, 1958-1960; Years of experimentation, recognition, and torment: the second anchoring in Britain: 1960-1964; The long-awaited chapel: the expiatory sacrifice, 1964-1970.. 1st. Paperback. Fine. 8vo.