Rothko’s ‘Red’: The paintings and the play

“Red,” a play about painter Mark Rothko, opens at Arena Stage on Jan. 20. Audiences can see the real Rothko paintings at the National Gallery and Phillips Collection.

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Edward Gero stars as Mark Rothko in the 2011 Goodman Theatre production of "Red," coming to Arena Stage.

Liz Lauren / Courtesy Arena Stage

In “Red,” Edward Gero plays Mark Rothko at a pivotal point in his career -- when he was struggling to complete some murals in the Seagram’s Tower in New York.

Liz Lauren

The play centers around Rothko and his assistant, Ken, played by Patrick Andrews.

Liz Lauren / Courtesy Arena Stage

Mark Rothko (1903-1970), "Aubade," 1944, gouache on paper.

The Phillips Collection, Gift of Rebecca B. and Julius W. Allen

"White Cloud" by Mark Rothko, shown here at Christie's during a preview of its Impressionist and Modern Art sale in New York in October.

Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images

Mark Rothko (1903–1970). "Green and Maroon," 1953. Oil on canvas. According to critic Phil Kennicott, John Logan, author of “Red,” “gets pop art and minimalism all wrong.”

Mark Rothko (1903–1970). "Ochre and Red on Red," 1954. Oil on canvas.

Mark Rothko (1903–1970). Green and Tangerine on Red, 1956. Oil on canvas. “Worse than conflating pop and minimalism, [Logan’s] play defines them both as generically pretty and popular,” writes Phil Kennicott.

Mark Rothko (1930–1970). "Orange and Red on Red," 1957. Oil on canvas.

A woman looks at Mark Rothko's "Brown and Black in Reds" at Christie's, where it will be auctioned off as part of the Seagram collection. Vivendi now owns the collection.

Helayne Seidman / For The Washington Post

A visitor contemplates two all-black abstractions painted in 1964 by Mark Rothko, installed in the exhibition "In the Tower: Mark Rothko" at the National Gallery of Art in 2011.

Photo Courtesy of Blake Gopnik

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