Rothko retrospective sheds light on Houston's favored artist Photo of Molly Glentzer Molly Glentzer Sep. 19, 2015 Updated: Sep. 19, 2015 9:47 p.m. More Comments Print 35 1 of 35"Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" opens today at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff 2 of 35Alison De Lima Greene, curator of contemporary art and special subjects, shown with Untitled (Seagram Mural Sketch), 1959, oil and mixed media on canvass, gives a lecture to journalist and guest at a preview of the exhibition "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff 3 of 35Alison De Lima Greene, curator of contemporary art and special subjects, shown with a portrait of artist Mark Rothko, at a preview of the exhibition "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Houston. ( Gary Coronado / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff 4 of 35Gary Tinterow, director of the museum, with Christopher Rothko, son of artist Mark Rothko, at a preview of the exhibition "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Houston. ( Gary Coronado / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff 5 of 35Mark Rothko painted "Street Scene" in 1936/1937. (Oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.  1998 by Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko)Photo: National Gallery of Art 6 of 35The painter Mark Rothko in front of his "No. 7" in 1960.Photo: Regina Bogat 7 of 35Curator Alison de Lima Greene studies an Untitled 1957 painting by Mark Rothko. It's part of the exhibition "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on view Sept. 20-Jan. 24.Photo: Molly Glentzer 8 of 35Helga Rossler and Erwin Bohatsch of Vienna, Austria, left, visited the Rothko Chapel for the first time on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015. Close behind them were a group of sixth-grade students from the Presbyterian School who came for a quiet lesson on mindfulness.Photo: Molly Glentzer 9 of 35Mark Rothko painted this Untitled work in 1945, when he was exploring Surrealism. (Oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.  1998 by Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko)Photo: National Gallery of Art 10 of 35Mark Rothko painted this Untitled work in 1953 (Mixed media on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.  1998 by Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko)Photo: National Gallery of Art 11 of 35The last group of works Mark Rothko painted included this Untitled acrylic from 1969. The gray area at the bottom is awash with vivid, energetic strokes. (Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1969, acrylic on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.  1998 by Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko)Photo: National Gallery of Art 12 of 35 Martk Rothko's "Red and Pink on Pink," left, and "No. 10"Photo: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 13 of 35 Martk Rothko's "Red and Pink on Pink," left, and "No. 10"Photo: The Menil Collection 14 of 35One of four works from a group of studies Mark Rothko created in 1959 for his ill-fated Seagram's Building commission. Mark Rothko, Untitled (Seagram Mural sketch), 1959, oil and mixed media on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.  1998 by Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko)Photo: National Gallery of Art 15 of 35Rothko Chapel, 1409 Sul Ross, shown Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011, in Houston had its 40 anniversary this year. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff 16 of 35Untitled (Harvard Mural Sketch), 1962, oil, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, at a preview of the exhibition "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Houston. ( Gary Coronado / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff 17 of 35"Untitled," 1969, acrylic on canvas, is among the 60 paintings hanging in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, as part of a new retrospective on Houston's favored artist, Mark Rothko.Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff 18 of 35From left, Plum Brown, 1956, oil on canvas, and No. 10, 1957, oil on canvas, part of the exhibition "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Houston. ( Gary Coronado / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff 19 of 35Untitled, 1970, acrylic on canvas, on display in the exhibition "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Houston. ( Gary Coronado / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff 20 of 35Journalist and guest at a preview of the exhibition "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Houston. ( Gary Coronado / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff 21 of 35Alison De Lima Greene, curator of contemporary art and special subjects, Christopher Rothko, son of artist Mark Rothko, and Gary Tinterow, director of the museum, at a preview of the exhibition "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Houston. ( Gary Coronado / Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff 22 of 35Mark Rothko's "transitional" "No. 10," painted in 1948, hints at ways figures may have morphed into abstract planes in his canvases. (oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.  1998 by Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko)Photo: National Gallery of Art 23 of 35Among works that will be on view Sept. 20 - Jan. 24 in the exhibition "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is "No. 9" (1948, oil and mixed media on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.  1998 by Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko)Photo: National Gallery of Art 24 of 35The Rothko Chapel invites the public to share in its mission and support its work by attending its fall fundraiser éMoonrise Party on the Plaza.éPhoto: courtesy 25 of 35Among works on view through Jan. 24 in the exhibition "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is this untitled canvas from 1951.Photo: National Gallery of Art 26 of 35The Rothko Chapel is one of the featured sites during Saturday's Museum Experience Day.Photo: Gary Fountain, Freelance 27 of 35Russian-born American painter Mark Rothko, known for abstract paintings, is shown in 1965. 28 of 35ROTHKO CHAPEL -- The high-ceiling Rothko Chapel, at 1409 Sul Ross, furnished with low wooden benches and permeated with an eye-soothing dimness of light, photographed Wednesday morning, November 28, 2001. John and Dominque de Menil asked artist Mark Rothko to create a sacred place on a Montrose area city block just west of the University of Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Staff 29 of 35ROTHKO CHAPEL -- The high-ceiling Rothko Chapel, at 1409 Sul Ross, furnished with low wooden benches and permeated with an eye-soothing dimness of light, photographed Wednesday morning, November 28, 2001. John and Dominique de Menil asked artist Mark Rothko to create a sacred place on a Montrose area city block just west of the University of Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Staff 30 of 35David A. Leslie has been named executive director of the Rothko Chapel. 31 of 35Interior and exterior views of the Rothco Chapel including the Broken Obelisk and fountain.Photo: J. Griffis Smith 32 of 35Exterior of the Rothko Chapel. 33 of 35Nelson Mandela and Dominique de Menil at a press conference at the Rothko Chapel, Dec. 7, 1991.Photo: Paul S. Howell, Chronicle file 34 of 35Nelson Mandela, Dominique de Menil and former president Jimmy Carter at a press conference at the Rothko Chapel. Dec. 7, 1991.Photo: Paul S. Howell, Chronicle file 35 of 35Shelley Ditto enjoys the day while laying near the Bygones statue by Mark di Suvero near the Rothko Chapel Wednesday, April 22, 2009, in Houston. ( James Nielsen / Chronicle )Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle

Mark Rothko never set foot in Houston, let alone the chapel in Montrose named for him.

Yet Houston has been infatuated with the artist since the austere space opened in 1971. At first glance, the 14 paintings inside seem bleak. While their deep plum hues come out on bright days, they're so somber they can make the viewer ache as much as Mozart's "Requiem." You've read your last free article on Houston Chronicle this month. To continue reading please subscribe or sign in

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Yet Houston has been infatuated with the artist since the austere space opened in 1971. At first glance, the 14 paintings inside seem bleak. While their deep plum hues come out on bright days, they're so somber they can make the viewer ache as much as Mozart's "Requiem."