Editing Mark Rothko (section)

==Suicide and estate lawsuit==
In early 1968, Rothko was diagnosed with a mild [[aortic aneurysm]]. Ignoring doctor's orders, he continued to drink and smoke heavily, avoided exercise, and maintained an unhealthy diet. "Highly nervous, thin, restless", was his friend [[Dore Ashton]]'s description of Rothko at this time.{{sfn|Ashton|1983|p=188}} But Rothko did take the medical advice not to paint pictures taller than three feet, and turned his attention to smaller, less physically strenuous formats, including acrylics on paper. Meanwhile, his marriage became increasingly troubled, and his poor health and impotence resulting from the aneurysm compounded his feeling of estrangement in the relationship.{{sfn|Breslin|1993|p=49}} Rothko and Mell, who had been married from 1944, separated on New Year's Day 1969; he moved into his studio.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mark Rothko {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-art-biographies/mark-rothko |access-date=June 27, 2022 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

On February 25, 1970, Oliver Steindecker, Rothko's assistant, found the artist lying dead on the kitchen floor in front of the sink, covered in blood. He had overdosed on [[barbiturates]] and cut an artery in his right arm with a razor blade.<ref name="Guardian 2008">{{Cite news |last=Cooke |first=Rachel |date=September 14, 2008 |title=The art cheats who betrayed my father |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/sep/14/art1 |access-date=March 17, 2018 |archive-date=14 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114023739/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/sep/14/art1 |url-status=live}}</ref> There was no suicide note. He was 66. The Seagram Murals arrived in London for display at the [[Tate Gallery]] on the day of his suicide.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 9, 2009 |title=Press Releases &#124; Late at Tate Liverpool (22 October 2009): Reflect on Mark Rothko's Seagram Murals in the twilight hours (Tate Liverpool) |url=http://www.tate.org.uk/about/press-office/press-releases/late-tate-tate-liverpool-22-october-2009-reflect-on-mark-rothkos |access-date=July 13, 2011 |website=Tate Etc. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915002122/https://www.tate.org.uk/about/press-office/press-releases/late-tate-tate-liverpool-22-october-2009-reflect-on-mark-rothkos | archive-date=2016-09-15 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

Near the end of his life, Rothko painted a series known as the "Black on Grays", uniformly featuring a black rectangle above a gray rectangle. These canvases and Rothko's later work in general have been associated with his depression and suicide, although the association has been criticized.<ref>Grange, p. 175.</ref> Rothko's suicide has been studied in medical literature,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hartman |first=J.J. |title=Risk Factors in Suicide: Mark Rothko and His Art |url=https://www.sciforschenonline.org/journals/psychiatry-mental-health/article-data/JPMH-3-127/JPMH-3-127.pdf |journal=Journal of Psychiatry and Mental Health |volume=3 |issue=2}}</ref> where his later paintings have been interpreted as "pictorial suicide notes" due to their somber palettes and especially in contrast to the brighter colors Rothko employed more frequently during the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ravin |first1=James G. |last2=Hartman |first2=John J. |last3=Fried |first3=Ralph I. |year=1978 |title=Mark Rothko's Paintings... Suicide Notes? |url=https://archive.org/details/ohiostatemedical74unse/page/78/mode/2up |journal=Ohio State Medical Journal |volume=74 |issue=2 |pages=78–79 |pmid=343021}}</ref> Although art critic [[David Anfam]] acknowledged that the Black and Grays are interpreted as premonitions of suicide or as "moonscapes" (the first [[Apollo Program|Apollo]] Moon landings were contemporaneous with their execution), he rejected the interpretations as "naive", arguing instead that the paintings were a continuation of his lifelong artistic themes and not symptoms of depression.<ref>Anfam, pp. 97–99.</ref> Susan Grange observed that, after his aneurysm, Rothko executed several smaller works on paper using lighter hues, which are less well-known.<ref>Grange, pp. 174–179.</ref> Throughout his life Rothko consistently intended his works to evoke serious dramatic content, regardless of the colors used in a particular painting. When a woman visited his studio asking to buy a "happy" painting featuring [[warm color]]s, Rothko retorted, "Red, yellow, orange – aren't those the colors of an inferno?"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sheets |first=Hilarie M. |date=November 2, 2016 |title=Mark Rothko's Dark Palette Illuminated |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/03/arts/design/mark-rothkos-dark-palette-illuminated.html |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

{{stack|[[File:Mark Rothko gravestone.JPG|thumb|240px|Rothko's grave at East Marion Cemetery, [[East Marion, New York|East Marion]], New York.]]}}
Shortly before his death, Rothko and his financial advisor, Bernard Reis, created a foundation intended to fund "research and education" that received the bulk of Rothko's work after his death. Reis later sold the paintings to the Marlborough Gallery, at substantially reduced values, and then split the profits from sales with Gallery representatives. In 1971, Rothko's daughter Kate, who was 19 at the time of his death, sued Reis, Morton Levine, and [[Theodoros Stamos|Theodore Stamos]], the executors of his estate, over the sham sales.<ref name="NYT lawsuit fallout 98">{{cite news |last1=Dobrzynski |first1=Judith H. |title=A Betrayal The Art World Can't Forget; The Battle for Rothko's Estate Altered Lives and Reputations |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/02/arts/betrayal-art-world-can-t-forget-battle-for-rothko-s-estate-altered-lives.html |access-date=29 February 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 November 1998 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228190250/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/02/arts/betrayal-art-world-can-t-forget-battle-for-rothko-s-estate-altered-lives.html |archive-date=28 February 2024}}</ref> The lawsuit continued for more than 10 years and became known as the [[Rothko Case]]. In 1975, the defendants were found liable for negligence and conflict of interest, were removed as executors of the Rothko estate by court order, and, along with Marlborough Gallery, were required to pay $9.2&nbsp;million in damages to the estate. This amount represents only a small fraction of the eventual value of numerous Rothko works.<ref>(case cite 372 N.E.2d 291)</ref> Marlborough Gallery was also required to return the remaining 658<ref name="Artnet 21 Rothko estate" /> unsold paintings to two parties.<ref name="NYT lawsuit fallout 98" /> One half of the remaining paintings were given to Rothko's estate, which was now controlled by Kate in addition to, eventually, her brother Christopher, who was 6 years old at the time of Rothko's death.<ref name="NYT lawsuit fallout 98" /><ref name="Artnet 21 Rothko estate">{{cite news |last1=Morgensztern |first1=Maïa |title=Running a Famous Artist's Estate Is a Maze of Infighting and Deal-Making. Here's How the Rothkos and Other Families Do It |url=https://news.artnet.com/market/artist-heirs-estate-management-1994494 |access-date=29 February 2024 |work=[[Artnet|Artnet News]] |date=3 August 2021 |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229221227/https://news.artnet.com/market/artist-heirs-estate-management-1994494 |archive-date=29 February 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> The other half were given to the Mark Rothko Foundation, which the court had reestablished as part of the lawsuit proceedings, appointing investment banker and art collector [[Donald M. Blinken]] as the foundation's president.<ref name="NYT lawsuit fallout 98" />

Rothko's estranged wife Mell, also a heavy drinker, died six months after him at the age of 48. The cause of death was listed as "hypertension due to cardiovascular disease".<ref name="Guardian 2008" />