Seagram murals

The Seagram murals are a series of paintings by Mark Rothko, his first to experiment with a dark palette. Originally commissioned for New York's opulent The Four Seasons Restaurant, he intended for the dark paintings to sicken the restaurant's patrons. After visiting the restaurant where his paintings were to hang, he canceled and returned his first commission. The paintings were stored and later donated some to the Tate. Rothko made 30 in the series in his lifetime.
The paintings have been the subject of two documentaries and a play, "Red" by John Logan. The paintings were defaced while hanging in the Tate Modern in 2012, for which a man received a two-year prison sentence.