From rosy pink and jubilant yellow to bright blue to sombre black – face one of the vast canvases created by Mark Rothko (1903-1970) and you feel yourself being sucked into his world. Constructed layer upon shimmering layer, his colour fields are of unparalleled intensity and communicate universal human emotions such as fear, ecstasy, grief and euphoria. Rothko was an intensely committed painter who invested his whole being in his art and, like many other great artists, led a difficult life. Deeply disillusioned by the two world wars and plagued by depression, he was a tormented soul, yet capable of producing great art with an enduring capacity to comfort and enthral. These days, exhibitions of the American artist’s work are huge crowd-pullers and his paintings fetch record sums at auction. The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag is proud to present a new exhibition of Rothko’s work, forty years after the last such show in the Netherlands. A unique chance to enjoy Rothko’s work, this exhibition will be held only in The Hague and nowhere else.

Mark Rothko Gemeentemuseum Den Haag 20 september 2014 - 1 maart 2015

Credits
Director: Gerrit Schreurs
Camera and etiting: Maurits Veldhuijzen van Zanten
Sound: Marzouk Magouz en Timo Hegtermans
Sounddesign: Wouter D. Snel Music: Arnold Schönberg - Three piano pieces, Op. 11, Performed by Daniel Barenboim. Courtesy of Warner Classics