No. 9 (Dark Over Light Earth/Violet and Yellow in Rose) is a mouthful. Luckily this Rothko has a catchier nickname: “Close Up of Bumblebee.”

For Mark Rothko, bigger is always better. This giant painting is about seven feet high and six feet wide. Up close, the black pops out against the yellow so vigorously that the colors seem to vibrate.

Rothko suggested that viewers stand as close as a foot away from the painting to grasp the full experience. He insisted that some viewers broke down in tears because he was so skilled at conveying emotion, so bring a hankie to the museum. And then be ready to outrun the guards.

A depressed drunk, Rothko was not the easiest person to get along with. When he was commissioned to paint canvases for the inside of a fancy New York restaurant, he said afterwards he hoped his paintings would take away the appetite of everyone in the restaurant and make them want to bang their heads against the wall. Good thing he never got into interior design.