Product Description

The best full-scale biography of this intellectually restless, deeply committed artist.. As the Washington Post says, "Dore Ashton brings the reader to the very core of Mark Rothko's art." She draws on her countless interviews with the artist--giving little credence to the false mythology surrounding his work--to take us to the heart of Rothko's painting, showing its derivation from his reading, travel, and thought.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #562640 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

Thorough
Dore Ashton knew Rothko and used this knowledge and access to his work to write this book about him. It is therefore useful material for anyone wishing to understand more about Rothko than his paintings can tell us face to face. Rothko was a difficult and tortured man, and his painting and lifestyle reflect that. Ashton gives a thorough and comprehensive guide to this world and his work, but it can sometimes make for hard reading. Whether this is the fault of the author, or the fact that they had difficult material to work with is hard to say, but although I would recommend it as a useful book, I wouldn't say that it was an engaging book.

Scholarly but very enjoyable
A scholarly work which can be hard going sometimes but I really enjoyed it and there is no doubt Dore Ashton knows her material. I felt I knew much more about how Rothko developed as a painter and I understand his paintings much more now, which is the reason I bought the book, so I am very satisfied. Rothko's work is deeply intellectual so books about it are by definition not going to be the easiest things in the world to grasp. I however really enjoyed working through it and I think it is one of the best books I have personally read about an artist.