At the time of Mark Rothko's apparent suicide in 1970, the deeply troubled, pioneering artist of Abstract Expressionism was at the height of fame and financial success; yet within months of the funeral, his three trusted friends, acting as executors, relinquished his entire legacy of 800 paintings to the powerful, international Marlborough Galleries (run by Frank Lloyd) for a fraction of their real worth on terms suspiciously unfavorable to the estate. The suit that Rothko's daughter brought against the executors and Marlborough rocked the art world with its shocking revelations of corruption in the international art trade: from the deceptions practiced on Rothko when he was alive to the scandals after his death involving conspiracies and cover-ups, double dealings and betrayals, missing paintings and manipulated markets, phony sales and laundered profits, forgery and fraud.
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About the Author
Lee Seldes, a former writer for Newsweek, Barron's, The Village Voice, and Esquire, and the only journalist to cover the entire Rothko trial, has substantially updated her definitive account to examine: the recent lives of key participants, including Frank Lloyd's criminal conviction; the ways in which the highly publicized trial over Andy Warhol's estate echoed the Rothko verdict; and the fate of the paintings for which Rothko lived—and died.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Karl Dettmer
Format:Paperback
In this interesting and enlightening book, Lee Seldes takes us into a world few of us will ever know. Most of us go to museums and enjoy the works, but we never think of the wheeling and dealing behind it. Seldes first shows us the troubled artist, then shows how greedy individuals will do whatever they need to to scam, lie and steal to increase their bank accounts and inflate the prices of the works they own. We see how Kate Rothko, still in school, must fight multi millionaire art dealers and powerful galleries to get what is rightfully hers, and to see that her father's legacy is presented and perserved the way he wanted it to be. If you're a lover of modern art, the works of Mark Rothko or even to a degree a fan of mystery stories, you'll enjoy this book and continue thinking about it long after you've finished reading.
13 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Ms. Seldes has produced a superb book! This is a must read for anyone interested in Mark Rothko, the Matter of Rothko, or the ugly commercial world of art. While her writings on the lawsuits and the cast of characters are somewhat confusing, it's hard to blame the author because the subject matter itself was confusing! The book was almost hard to believe that it was non-fiction! It had all the intrigue of Swiss banks, Concorde jetsetters, the New York art scene, and tax havens like Bahamas and Lichtenstein -- and it all really happened! I congratulate Ms. Seldes on a very strong effort!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By disco75
Format:Paperback
This compelling tale reflects nearly unbelievable hubris, chicanery, and recklessness in the art world that would make a terrific film if it weren't such a sad legacy for the Rothko family.
In the first half of the book Seldes details the tragic elements of Rothko's choices in her fine biography of the artist that is far more succinct than Breslin's tome, then in the second half plays out how his drunken actions were exploited fearlessly after his death. It contains an amazing array of international money-laundering and false corp shenanigans, jet-setting ex-pats, elegant museum and law-world figures, and bruised-ego academics, all at work during a trial of Bleak House proportions.
It's true that in the trial chapters the thousands of pages of evidence sometimes threaten to overwhelm the book, what with the Rothko Foundation board and their witnesses, the gallery players and their witnesses, the expert testifiers, the lawyers and their investigators, the family and their legal reps, etc. But the forward-moving narrative is brisk enough to overcome these reporting challenges. The author shows skill for leaving a reader agog at not only the greed of the handlers but the single-minded though talented egotism of the artist that were both key components of this tragedy.
In the first half of the book Seldes details the tragic elements of Rothko's choices in her fine biography of the artist that is far more succinct than Breslin's tome, then in the second half plays out how his drunken actions were exploited fearlessly after his death. It contains an amazing array of international money-laundering and false corp shenanigans, jet-setting ex-pats, elegant museum and law-world figures, and bruised-ego academics, all at work during a trial of Bleak House proportions.
It's true that in the trial chapters the thousands of pages of evidence sometimes threaten to overwhelm the book, what with the Rothko Foundation board and their witnesses, the gallery players and their witnesses, the expert testifiers, the lawyers and their investigators, the family and their legal reps, etc. But the forward-moving narrative is brisk enough to overcome these reporting challenges. The author shows skill for leaving a reader agog at not only the greed of the handlers but the single-minded though talented egotism of the artist that were both key components of this tragedy.
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 44
books:
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9
books
cite this book:
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- Mark Rothko (Museum of Modern Art) by Peter Howard Selz on 47 pages
- Mark Rothko by Marjorie Cohn on 24 pages
- The Birth of Tragedy (Dover Thrift Editions) by Friedrich Nietzsche on page 32, page 100, and page 111
- Max Ernst (Museum of Modern Art) by William S. Lieberman on page 18, page 41, and page 257
- Conversations with Artists by Selden Rodman on page 370, page 371, and Back Matter
See all 44 books this book cites
- Loft Living: Culture and Capital in Urban Change by Sharon Zukin in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Jackson Pollock: Energy Made Visible by B. H. Friedman in Back Matter
- Depression and the Spiritual in Modern Art: Homage to Miró by Joseph J. Schildkraut on page 220
- JFK and Art by Cynthia A. Drayton on page 33
- Subject Cataloging: Critiques and Innovations by Sanford Berman on page 182
See all 9 books citing this book
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