How many paintings comprise Mark Rothko’s Rothko Chapel installation? Fourteen paintings do.
The Rothko Chapel in Houston contains 14 paintings by Mark Rothko. They are arranged around the interior so that visitors encounter large, dark works in a setting designed for contemplation rather than for a conventional gallery-style display.
Rothko received the commission from John and Dominique de Menil in 1964. He produced the chapel paintings from 1964 through 1967, along with four alternate works. The installation includes three triptychs—groups of three panels—and five individual paintings, giving a total of 14 displayed works.
The number is sometimes confused with the title of Peter Gabriel’s song “Fourteen Black Paintings,” which was inspired by the chapel. Another nearby fact is that Rothko did not live to see the completed building: he died in 1970, and the nondenominational chapel opened in Houston in 1971. Its interior, architecture, and lighting were developed as an integrated artistic environment.