We can look through Rothko's world of infinite space through the portals created within his Seagram mural series. He chose to move away, temporarily, from his solid blocks of colour and try something out that was just a little different. He went for fairly subtle, dark palettes within these paintings and had to make sure that they all fitted a consistent approach as they were to be hung in close proximity to each other within a restaurant. The whole idea eventually disinterested Rothko and so he chose not to allow the installation to occur, even though by this point he had already put so much work into the overall project. Thankfully, the murals were protected and eventually passed on so that we can still get an understanding of what he had in mind during the production phases.
Rothko starred within the New York School which was a collection of like-minded contemporary artists, although he would always tend to distance himself from such groups as he was extremely independent and did not want comparisons with others. He did, despite that, help New York to establish itself as the leading cultural hotspot for art across several decades, with a particularly impressive contribution to contemporary art. Previously this region had lived in the shadow of European cities, such as Paris or Rome, but was finally starting to lead the way itself for the first time.
Rothko chose to avoid seeing his work hanging in a restaurant, despite having spent so much time working on around thirty murals. He therefore pulled out of the project and later dispersed this collection between a number of different art galleries. He was contented to give some of his work away for free to particularly venues which he felt had helped his own development over the years. They have sensibly held onto these generous donations and today use them within prominent parts of their permanent displays. This has helped younger generations to continually access and understand more about this artist, and ultimately promotes him as a brand even after he has passed away. Many other famous artists will also collaborate with galleries in order to protect their legacies.
