Christopher Rothko on his Father

Christopher Rothko shares memories of his father’s turbulent career including the Seagram mural commission and his discomfort with the restaurant’s ostentation: In 1958, Rothko was asked to supply wall paintings for the Four Seasons restaurant in its opulent new building in New York. He agreed. Yet, by 1960, he returned the portion of the $35,000 fee that had been paid to him, and kept the murals. Later, the artist is reported to have said that he accepted the assignment with “malicious intent”, and hoped to paint something that would “ruin the appetite of every son of a bitch who ever eats in that room”. The Independent.