Marcus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (1903 – 1970) was born in Russia bu moved to Portland, Oregon in 1913. Although his artistic education was brief, he would be one of the leading abstract expressionistic painters.
Rothko didn’t want art to be solemn, although during the early stages of his career he painted in a more traditional style. In 1947, however, he painted his first large abstract paintings.