“I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions—tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on. And the fact that a lot of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions.” — Mark Rothko Artist Mark Rothko sought to make paintings that would bring people to tears. He painted to explore the depths of himself and the human condition. For him, art was a profound form of communication, and art making was a moral act. Born in Latvia in 190

“Mark Rothko’s signature style is usually described as rectangles…floating on a background color. And yet they stopped people and made them look and made them think.” - Christopher Rothko We're almost finished editing our special on world renowned 20th century painter Mark Rothko, who grew up right here in Portland, then went on to revolutionize the world of abstract painting. We were fortunate to meet Christopher Rothko at Literary Arts Wordstock Festival, where he shared his new book about his