Editing Mark Rothko (section)

===Development of style===
Rothko's work has been described in eras.<ref>Anfam, pp. 26, 46, 70.</ref> His early period (1924–1939) saw representational art inflected by impressionism, usually depicting urban scenes. In 1936, Rothko began writing a book, never completed, about similarities between the art of children and the work of modern painters.{{sfn|Breslin|1993|p=130–42}} According to Rothko, the work of modernists, influenced by primitive art, could be compared to that of children in that "child art transforms itself into primitivism, which is only the child producing a mimicry of himself."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rothko |first1=Mark |url=https://archive.org/details/writingsonart0000roth/page/8 |title=Writings on art |last2=López-Remiro |first2=Miguel |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780300114409 |location=New Haven |pages=[https://archive.org/details/writingsonart0000roth/page/8 8] |language=en |oclc=1008510353}}</ref> In this manuscript, he observed: "Tradition of starting with drawing in academic notion. We may start with color."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rothko |first1=Mark |url=https://archive.org/details/writingsonart0000roth/page/6 |title=Writings on art |last2=López-Remiro |first2=Miguel |date=2006 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300114409 |location=New Haven |pages=[https://archive.org/details/writingsonart0000roth/page/6 6] |language=en |oclc=1008510353}}</ref> Rothko was using fields of color in his [[aquarelle]]s and city scenes. His style was already evolving in the direction of his renowned later works. In the 1930s, Rothko and Gottlieb together worked through intellectual perceptions and opinions they had about contemporary art. By the 1940s, both artists were delving into mythology for themes and forms, tapping into what could be considered universal consciousness.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Milgrom |first1=Michaela |title=Artists Who Inspired Mark Rothko |url=https://www.nga.gov/stories/artists-who-inspired-mark-rothko.html |website=National Gallery of Art |access-date=20 March 2024}}</ref>

This period extended into his middle, "transitional" years (1940–1950), continuing incorporation of mythical and "biomorphic" abstraction, and "multiforms", the latter being canvases with large regions of color. Rothko's transitional decade was influenced by World War II, which prompted him to seek novel expression of [[tragedy]] in art. During this time Rothko was influenced by ancient Greek tragedians such as [[Aeschylus]] and his reading of Nietzsche's ''[[The Birth of Tragedy]]''.<ref>Grange, pp. 50–54.</ref>

In Rothko's mature or "classic" period (1951–1970), he consistently painted rectangular regions of color, intended as "dramas"<ref>Grange, p. 47.</ref> to elicit an emotional response from the viewer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mark Rothko and the dialogue in his mind - Hektoen International |url=https://hekint.org/2021/10/01/mark-rothko-and-the-dialogue-in-his-mind/ |access-date=June 28, 2022 |website=hekint.org|date=October 2021 }}</ref>