Collection
The Rothko Museum collection is one of the museum’s most significant assets. Comprising more than 3,000 objects across various artistic media, it brings together works by Latvian and international artists, memorial collections and examples of contemporary artistic practice.
The collection has developed through the museum’s exhibitions, residencies and international symposia, as well as donations from artists and targeted acquisitions. It encompasses painting, graphic art, ceramics, sculpture, textile art, photography and digital art.
Explore the Collection
Mark Rothko Drawings
Donated to Rothko Museum by Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko (2023, 2025)
Graphite on paper
30.5 × 21.6 cm
GR-622
Ink on paper
21.6 × 27.8 cm
GR-623
Ink on paper
20.5 × 26.7 cm
GR-729
Graphite on paper
30.5 × 21.6 cm
GR-728
About the Collection
The museum’s art collection began to take shape in 2003, when, to mark the centenary of Mark Rothko – a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism born in Dvinsk (now Daugavpils) – the artist’s family donated forty museum-quality retrospective reproductions to the city. In 2005, Daugavpils hosted the first international Mark Rothko painting plein air, which became an annual tradition and an important foundation for the continued growth of the collection.
Rothko Museum (known as the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre until 2023) runs an active international programme of symposia and residencies, attracting contemporary artists from Latvia and around the world and fostering artistic creativity. Each year, donations from symposium participants enrich the museum’s collection, expanding its geographical reach and reflecting the diversity of contemporary artistic expression. Individual donations from artists following exhibitions at Rothko Museum represent another important means of developing the collection and testify to the success of the museum’s exhibition projects.
At the end of 2018, an agreement was signed with British artist and art patron Basil Alkazzi to establish the Basil Alkazzi Acquisitions Fund, enabling the museum to acquire significant works by Latvian and international painters and graphic artists.
The preservation of artistic heritage and cultural continuity plays an important role in the development of the museum’s collection. Rothko Museum actively develops and preserves memorial collections dedicated to artists born in Daugavpils, including Pēteris Martinsons, Silva Linarte and Sigurds Vīdzirkste, safeguarding their creative legacies and recognising their significant contributions to Latvian art history.
Overall, the Rothko Museum collection comprises works by more than 600 artists across painting, graphic art, ceramics, sculpture, textile art, photography and electronic art. The collection’s scale and artistic diversity make it possible to develop a wide range of conceptually distinctive exhibitions for cultural venues in Latvia and abroad.
