Mark Rothko (1903-1970), one of the gratest artists of the twentieth century, was engaged in the written discourse of his colleagues and critics throughout his life. While the essays and letters of many of his contemporaries have been collected, however, Rothko’s writings have only recently come to light, beginning with the critically acclaimed "The Artist’s Reality: Philosophies of Art". "Writings on Art" is the first book to bring together the artist's other written works. It includes some 90 documents—including short essays, letters, statements, and lectures—written by Rothko over the course of his career. The texts are fully annotated, and a chronology of the artist’s life and work is also included.
This provocative compilation of both published and unpublished writings from 1934--69 reveals a number of things about Rothko: the importance of writing for an artist who many believed had renounced the written word; the meaning of transmission and transition that he experienced as an art teacher at the Brooklyn Jewish Center Academy; his deep concern for meditation and spirituality; and his private relationships with contemporary artists (including Newman, Motherwell, and Clyfford Still) as well as journalists and curators.
As was revealed in Rothko’s "The Artist’s Reality", what emerges from this collection is a more detailed picture of a sophisticated, deeply knowledgeable, and philosophical artist who was also a passionate and articulate writer.