The Rothko Chapel in Houston features large paintings with subtle nuances of black. Photo/Runaway Productions
Rothko’s stark vision graces Houston chapel By Dennis RavertyUpon entering the Rothko Chapel in Houston, one is immediately aware of a quiet, contemplative ambience unlike either the noisy city outside or the typical atmosphere in a gallery or a museum, where paintings by the mid-century abstract artist Marc Rothko (1908-70) are more likely to be seen. Dimly lit by a concealed skylight and entirely without windows, the space has the hushed air of a sanctuary. It is only after your eyes have adjusted to the lower level of light that you notice the huge monolithic black paintings that dominate every wall of this octagonal space.
Heiress saved Jewish children in Nazi-occupied France Reviewed by Rick HamlinSuzanne Spaak would seem to have unlikely makings for a saint. She was a rich Belgian heiress living in occupied Paris during World War II in a sumptuous Palais Royale apartment (upstairs from the writer Colette) that was filled with paintings by her friend the surrealist Magritte. Spaak raised her son and teenaged daughter—the latter a possible inspiration for Colette’s Gigi—with little financial help from her bounder of a husband, as all the while she was rescuing hundreds of Jewish children from the Nazis.