Rothko Case

The Rothko Case was the dispute between the daughter of the painter Mark Rothko and the directors of his gallery Marlborough Fine Art. Knowing that he was going to die (by suicide in 1970), Rothko made gifts of certain key paintings that he had retained to his two children, believing that his key patrons would pay inflated prices for the works following his death. Therefore, financial security would be provided to his children. However, following his death, Rothko's children were notified by his gallery that, under the terms of the agreement made with them in 1956, they owned all of Rothko's paintings.

In the following case, it was revealed that, when still a struggling artist with a young family, Rothko had agreed to a deal with the gallery that all of his paintings would be sold through the gallery in exchange for a set monthly fee. Although these terms were not unknown (Pablo Picasso had a similar deal with his gallery in the 1920s)

It emerged from the trial that the gallery defrauded Rothko and their estate through various methods. The gallery had filtered payments for works through accounts in Switzerland and Lichtenstein to ensure that values were under-presented. During the 1960s, this led to a huge underestimate by the artist on the value of his works – as a result, he agreed to consignments of dozens of paintings to the gallery and collectors without appreciating the full value. Also, it was revealed the gallery had been stockpiling works to ensure a heightened value in the market after his death. Certain directors at Marlborough were convicted of defrauding the Rothko family.