Tate missed out on valuable Rothko works
November 9th, 2008
Mark Rothko (1903-1970) via artfact
Given the current state of the art market, the recent news of London’s Tate Modern’s decision to reject a gift of 30 Rothko paintings 41 years ago sounds almost painful. An investigation into the Tate’s archives reveal that in 1967 Rothko offered the London museum the generous gift which is now speculated to be worth $1billion. The offer included works from the artist’s 1961 retrospective at the MoMA and his Seagram mural paintings from 1958.
How the Tate made a $1billion mistake over Rothko [Independent, UK]
Documents shed light on Tate’s $1billion Rothko blunder [Guardian, UK]
Tate ‘lost out’ on Rothko works [BBC]
Tate ‘turned down Rothko paintings worth $1bilion’ [Telegraph, UK]
read more after the jump…
The trustees at the time, believed that Rothko would want to see the paintings in the permanent collection, and thus turned them down in order to limit all the Rothkos to one room. Norman Reid, the Tate’s director, accepted 9 of the 30 works when he visited the artist’s studio in 1965, including a few of the Seagram murals which were commissioned for the Four Seasons Restaurant in NY. The paintings were given prominence in the “Rothko Room” which, even now, is one of the Tate’s most popular galleries. To further emphasize the enduring popularity of Mark Rothko’s paintings, the Tate is currently holding an exhibition of the artist’s late series of works that will be on display from September 26, 2008-February 01, 2009.
Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz, is one of the world’s best known post-war abstract expressionist artists, achieving headline prices at auctions. In November of 2005, “Homage to Matisse” broke the record of any post-war painting at auction at $22.5million and again in the Sotheby’s auction in May of 2007, his painting, White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) broke the record at $72.8million.
White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose), 1950, broke the record at $72.8million, via artnet
Untitled, 1969, by Mark Rothko, sold at Sotheby’s for $12,081,000 in the Nov, 14, 2007 Contemporary Art auction, via artnet
Untitled (Red/Black), 1958, will be up for auction at Sotheby’s in the November 11, 2008 Contemporary Art auction with an estimate of $4million to $6million, via artnet
