WASHINGTON, DC.- A new exhibition featuring seven of the enigmatic
black paintings made in 1964 by American artist Mark Rothko (1903–1970) is the
second in a series of shows installed in the National Gallery of Art’s Tower
Gallery, East Building, that center on developments in art since mid-century. On
view February 21, 2010 through January 2, 2011, “In the Tower: Mark
Rothko” includes works drawn largely from the Gallery’s own vast collection of
Rothko’s oeuvre and features a short film created for the exhibition. These
austere paintings—each presenting a single black rectangle on a black or nearly
black field—are among the most mysterious of Rothko’s career.