Mark Rothko

1903-1970 · American (born in the Russian Empire) · Abstract Expressionism, Color Field painting

Auction record: $98.39M

No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe), 1964 · Christie's, New York · May 18, 2026

Biography

Mark Rothko was born Markus Rothkowitz in Dvinsk (now Daugavpils, Latvia) and emigrated to the United States at ten. After surrealist and mythological phases he arrived around 1949 at his signature format: soft-edged rectangles of colour floating on large vertical canvases, meant to produce an intense, almost religious experience. The Seagram murals, now at Tate, and the Rothko Chapel in Houston are his most ambitious projects. Rothko is a pillar of the trophy market. Classic canvases from 1949 to 1960 are scarce, mostly held by museums and long-term collectors, and when they appear they compete with Pollock and de Kooning at the top of post-war art. In May 2026 a new record took his auction high close to 100 million dollars.

Recent auction results

No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe) (1964)Christie's, New York	$98.39M	May 18, 2026	heni.com
Brown and Blacks in Reds (1957)Sotheby's, New York	$85.78M	May 14, 2026	heni.com
No. 1 (1949)Sotheby's, New York	$20.8M	May 14, 2026	heni.com
Untitled (1969)Sotheby's, New York	$16.46M	May 14, 2026	heni.com
No. 31 (Yellow Stripe) (1958)Christie's, New York	$62.16M	Nov 17, 2025	heni.com
Untitled (Yellow and Blue) (1954)Sotheby's, Hong Kong	$32.48M	Nov 11, 2024	heni.com

Market

Liquidity: High

Museums

National Gallery of Art, Washington
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Tate Modern, Londra
Rothko Chapel, Houston
Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, Sakura

Sources

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