Mark Rothko '25 (1903-1970). Rothko was a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism. Influenced by psychoanalyst Carl Jung, Rothko attempted to portray the collective unconscious through the bold use of color. His signature style is marked by the placement of large rectangles of color above one another on a stained background.

Rothko once described his art thus: “I’m not interested in the relationship of color or form or anything else. I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions—tragedy, ecstasy, doom and so on. … The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them.” Rothko’s 1951 painting No. 12 was featured on a 32-cent stamp in 1998.