The Portland Art Museum Will Add a Three-Story Mark Rothko Pavilion

The museum will partner with Rothko's children to show their father's work in Portland over the next 20 years.

By Sophia June

The Portland Art Museum announced a major expansion yesterday: the creation of a three-story pavilion that will connect the museum's freestanding buildings. It will be named the Mark Rothko Pavilion, after the abstract expressionist artist most famous for his Color Field paintings. The expansion comes as part of a $75 million dollar capital and endowment campaign.

The museum also announced a new partnership with Rothko's children, Christopher Rothko and Kate Rothko Prizel, who will lend the museum their father's paintings over the next 20 years.

The wing won't be exclusively devoted to Rothko paintings, but will include 9,840 square feet of new gallery space, a new Education and Design Lab, and new space for the museum's library. There will also be a third-floor sculpture garden.

(Portland Art Museum) (Vinci | Hamp Architects)
(Portland Art Museum) (Vinci | Hamp Architects)
(Portland Art Museum) (Vinci | Hamp Architects)

After immigrating from Latvia, Rothko spent his youth in Portland. He took art classes as a teenager at the Portland Art Museum, where he also had his first solo exhibition. An anonymous donor donated $8 million for the pavilion to be named after the artist.

The pavilion will be designed by Chicago-based architect Vinci Hamp Architects, who has designed several special exhibitions for the Portland Art Museum. The project is set to break ground in 2018 and be completed by 2020 or 2021.

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