Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko (Latvian: Marks Rothko, September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowicz (Russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, Latvian: Markuss) Rotkovičs was born in Latvia during the Russian Empire and immigrated to the United States in 1910. When he was young, he used part-time jobs to earn money to study, and worked as an actor, stage manager, painter, and waiter. In 1929 he became a part-time teacher at a synagogue and a founding member of the Expressionist movement. Later, due to illness, depression, melancholy, alcoholism, and overdose of tranquilizers and antidepressants, he committed suicide by severing his veins in 1970. Although he personally resists being labeled as a genre, his works and painting style are still considered to be examples of abstract expressionism.