Rothkos reunited at Tate

Kate Rothko Prizel, 58, a research pathologist, and psychologist Christopher Rothko, 45, are to visit the show which offers a unique opportunity to see half the Seagram murals in one place.

Rothko painted 30 works in connection with a £19,000 commission for the Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram building in New York. But he never handed them over - and donated nine to the Tate shortly before his suicide in 1970, aged 66. They are highlights of the gallery's collections and are normally displayed in their own dedicated room at Tate Modern in dim lighting in accordance with the artist's directions.

But for the new show, they are being joined by another six, lent from the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art in Japan and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. They are being shown in a temporary room nearly three times the size of the usual permanent display. And they will be seen in slightly brighter light.

Achim Borchardt-Hume, the curator, said people might be surprised. The Tate's Rothkos are dark-hued but some of the other Seagram loans are in much brighter colours. "It is the first time we have brought ours together with some of their counterparts. It's a completely different experience," Dr Borchardt-Hume said. They were thrilled to secure the loans.

"They are obviously iconic works in our collection. They're quite fragile. On very rare occasions we have allowed an individual painting to travel but we have never allowed the whole group to travel anywhere."

The Seagram paintings are joined by 84 more paintings and works on paper for the exhibition, which is the first dedicated to the artist's late works. "They are incredibly beautiful," Dr Borchardt-Hume added. "You have an image in your mind but I am still surprised by how powerful some of these works look in this space."

The Four Seasons was a restaurant frequented by Manhattan's elite. Rothko said of the commission: "I hope to ruin the appetite of every son of a bitch who ever eats in that room."

Rothko, sponsored by Fujitsu Services with support from Access Industries, opens on Friday and runs until 1 February with admission charge.