Christopher Rothko, Curator of the Louis Vuitton Foundation Rothko Show in Paris

What was your role in the Rothko retrospective? As co-curator, I preselected a list of works that changed over time. Then Suzanne Pagé, the other curators and I created galleries to give the exhibition meaning. I co-wrote the catalog and supervised the end of the hanging. My experience hanging my father’s paintings based on his instructions (editor’s note: without a frame or glass, 30 cm/11.8 in. above the floor, in soft lighting) allowed me to quickly see whether or not they were “happy” to be there. In the end, we're never too far from what he would have liked. Did being a co-curator and lending works influence the other loans? When an artist’s family loans their pieces, it attests to their commitment and the seriousness of the exhibition. My sister Kate Rothko Prizel and I have loaned few works because our collection has already been shown a lot in Europe. However, we loaned some of our paintings to small American museums in the hopes that they would loan us theirs. This adds a fresh touch to the show because you can admire pieces from private and museum…