Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
‘A painting is not a picture of an experience; it is the experience.’ —Mark Rothko
Painted in 1964, ‘No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe)’ belongs to a pivotal moment in Rothko's career, created between the Seagram Murals and the Rothko Chapel commission during his later years. Monumental in scale yet deeply intimate, the painting unfolds through luminous greens, deep violet and a charged band of red, creating the sublime emotional intensity that defined Rothko's mature work. Here, colour is not merely seen, but felt.
Agnes Gund once wrote to Rothko describing how the painting revealed itself differently as she lived with it, shifting with light, mood and time of day. Rothko called her back to say, ‘I really like hearing that about my art.’
More than 60 years later, ‘No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe)’ continues to reveal new depths to its viewer.
📍Come see this masterpiece in person through 18 May at our Rockefeller Center galleries. As always, all exhibitions are free and open to the public.
🔗Discover more: christies.com/en/events/the-collection-of-agnes-gund?cid=EM_SM_O_YT_Inc_CON____2021CNY0525_GundRothko___VID__
📅 20th Century Evening Sale | New York | 18 May
Archival courtesy:
© Tate, London / Art Resource, NY
Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
© The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY
Photograph by Herbert Matter
Stefan Ruiz, Vogue, © Condé Nast
Consuelo Kanaga
Artwork:
© 2026 Estate of Rudy Burckhardt / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
© 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
‘A painting is not a picture of an experience; it is the experience.’ —Mark Rothko
Painted in 1964, ‘No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe)’ belongs to a pivotal moment in Rothko's career, created between the Seagram Murals and the Rothko Chapel commission during his later years. Monumental in scale yet deeply intimate, the painting unfolds through luminous greens, deep violet and a charged band of red, creating the sublime emotional intensity that defined Rothko's mature work. Here, colour is not merely seen, but felt.
Agnes Gund once wrote to Rothko describing how the painting revealed itself differently as she lived with it, shifting with light, mood and time of day. Rothko called her back to say, ‘I really like hearing that about my art.’
More than 60 years later, ‘No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe)’ continues to reveal new depths to its viewer.
📍Come see this masterpiece in person through 18 May at our Rockefeller Center galleries. As always, all exhibitions are free and open to the public.
🔗Discover more: christies.com/en/events/the-collection-of-agnes-gund?cid=EM_SM_O_YT_Inc_CON____2021CNY0525_GundRothko___VID__
📅 20th Century Evening Sale | New York | 18 May
Archival courtesy:
© Tate, London / Art Resource, NY
Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
© The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY
Photograph by Herbert Matter
Stefan Ruiz, Vogue, © Condé Nast
Consuelo Kanaga
Artwork:
© 2026 Estate of Rudy Burckhardt / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
© 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
