Classic Mark Rothko, "White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)," 1950Our family friends Jack and Betty Fischer and their daughters traveled to Europe in the mid 1950s by ship, as was still the customary way. On board they befriended Mark Rothko and his family and were delighted to learn that he was a painter. In fact, Rothko was beginning to enjoy the financial consequences of an increasing fame, whence the money to make the trip.
After landing in Naples, the Fischers and Rothkos visited the magnificent Greek temples at Paestum. The Fischers' younger daughter, Sarah, much taken with their beauty, said, "Mr. Rothko, why don't you paint Greek temples?"
"I think maybe that's what I've been doing all my life," Rothko said. "Without knowing it."
