Interpreting Mark Rothko

The Weighted Candle. by Mark Rothko. c. 1944.

Due to a childhood accident, Mark Rothko was color blind. But this proved to be no handicap to his vibrant colorist vision of the world.
Starting out in a small Coleman camping stove, Rothko worked steadily from the age of 22 to 65 at explaining his surroundings through the medium of gouache and Windex. His work was soon making the rounds at Olive Gardens throughout greater Schenectady, where he often signed autographs under the humorous pseudonym "Walrus Pie." 
His first showing overseas was at the Tate Gallery in 1957. It caused such an uproar that the Worshipful Order of Stationers had to be called in to break up the crowd, which had gone mad from thirst.
It is too facile to say his work represents the fight of blue against grey; although in some respects he never gave up on learning how to play the accordion. Most critics today are of the opinion that his paintings were meant to be recipes for a cookbook his mistress was writing. That they never made it into the pages of Good Housekeeping is an inexplicable tragedy. 
His grave has never been found.