Mark Rothko's Mythological Works and Their Connection to World War II Context

An article explores Mark Rothko's engagement with mythology during the early 1940s, connecting his artistic practice to the historical context of World War II. The analysis centers on Rothko's manuscript 'The Artist's Reality,' published posthumously in 2004 and edited by his son Christopher Rothko, which reveals the artist's philosophical interest in myth as a means to represent the invisible and unknown. During this period, Rothko studied works by Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, and James Frazer, whose anthropological theories influenced his thinking. In 1942-1943, Rothko participated in protest exhibitions against the Metropolitan Museum of New York's 'Artists for Victory' show, presenting mythological paintings like 'The Omen of the Eagle' (1942), inspired by Aeschylus's Oresteia. This work, now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, uses horizontal bands to depict archetypal imagery of eagles and sacrifice, reflecting on universal themes of violence. The article notes that Rothko's mythological series, including 'Tiresias' (1944), aligns with contemporary interpretations of myth, such as Jean-Paul Sartre's 1943 play 'Les Mouches,' which used the Atreides saga to critique Nazi-occupied France. Rothko's approach, influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis and Jane Ellen Harrison's studies of Greek religion, positions the artist as an archaeologist of the unconscious, excavating archetypal forms to address collective emotional experiences. The piece references a 2026 exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence featuring Rothko's works, with insights from scholar Silvia Romani.