Mark Rothko, Red on Maroon, 1958

Do Rothko’s abstract colour studies have a profound effect on you? That’s certainly the case for journalist Hannah Strong, whose first encounter with the painter’s deep red Seagram Murals in the Tate Modern proved particularly formative. Writing for our This Artwork Changed My Life column, she explains, “The Seagram Murals reflect back to me an ongoing struggle with my own mental illness, and their curious origins reflect a desire for art to be more than numbers in a bank account.” Discover more about the paintings’ unusual backstory, and Strong’s transformative interaction with them, here.