Tate hangs Rothkos upside down

Huge embarrassment for Sir Nicholas Serota (pictured), the director of Tate Modern. Two paintings by the artist Mark Rothko, famous for his bold stripes and squares, appear to have been hung the wrong way round by curators at a major retrospective of his works currently being held at the Tate.

According to the Art Newspaper, the paintings, from the Black on Maroon series, have been hung vertically with bold stripes running from top to bottom. Rothko is thought to have wanted the canvasses, which he donated to the Tate before committing suicide in February 1970, to be hung with the stripes running horizontally. And the location of his signature on the back of the paintings is believed to reflect this wish.

However, despite this being pointed out, Tate Modern does not appear inclined to do anything about it. Richard Dorment, the art critic for the Daily Telegraph, is aghast at the elemental error saying that hanging paintings according to the indication of the artist's signature was "elementary" stuff.

"If this is not a blunder then it is a very extreme way of presenting his work," he said. "The point of these is the lines create a sort of gate image when they are horizontal which can lead to a totally different interpretation when vertical because that really is the wrong way round."

In fairness to Tate Modern, the correct way to display the works have never been agreed because there are no photographs available to indicate for certain how Rothko wished the works to be hung.