Mark ROTHKO (1903-1970) Rust & Blue 1953

Lithograph, Handmade Arches paper, dimensions: 57 x 46 cm in light passe-partout, 73 x 62 cm in passe-parout frame, limited edition, licensed by SPADEM PARIS, hand numbered in pencil 90/200, signed from plate p.d., dry stamp SPADEM PARIS l.d., (Société de la Propriété Artistique et des Dessins et Modelèles-the French equivalent of ZAIKS). Original certificate.
Mark Rothko, owner of Marcus Rothkowitz American painter, representative of color field painting.
Rothko's work to this day is a symbol of art that speaks of freedom and consequences, transcending all aesthetic and genre frameworks. His paintings focused on simple emotions - canvases were usually filled with few intense colors, with few details. Mark Rothko's works are among the most recognizable in the world among abstract works. And at the same time probably one of the most controversial (next to the works of Jackson Pollock).
The artist himself has repeatedly stressed that he aims for his canvases to help people define their own feelings. He wanted to literally draw the viewer into the painting, he wanted to give him a total experience, to evoke a strong and unambiguous emotional reaction - ecstasy, joy, despair, devastation, resignation, etc. Rothko professed faith in colors, he knew that, properly combined, they can activate areas in the brain responsible for evoking memories, dreams and fears (today these issues are dealt with by a branch of science called neuroaesthetics).
"Rust and Blue," one of Rothko's most famous paintings, consists of three main colors: rusty orange, deep blue and darker, almost black tones at the bottom. A rusty rectangle set against an intense blue background dominates the painting, creating a contrast between warm and cool. This juxtaposition of warm and cold colors can evoke a sense of tension or harmony, depending on the viewer, and the experience of interacting with the painting is meant to be primarily personal.
Rothko is already somewhat of an icon, a cult figure, that anything that came out of his hand is expensive. Add to this the rapidly diminishing availability of paintings, which are disappearing from the market in private and public collections, and the fact that Rothko's style is unmistakable. Contrary to popular opinion that such a thing could be painted even by a child, Rothka's works are insanely difficult to copy so as to convey the hard-to-grasp vibration of colors and their mesmerizing power.
Today Mark Rothko is described as the most expensive painter of the post-war period. The minimum price for which his works are sold at auctions exceeds $20 million. The record was set in 2014, when a Russian collector bought painting No. 6 for $186 million, making Rothko one of the top seven most expensive paintings ever sold (alongside Leonardo da Vinci, Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin, among others).