From a private Swiss collection, a simmering burnt orange and pale pink canvas painted in 1954 by Mark Rothko is already touted as a star at this year's Art Basel.

Marlborough Fine Art is offering up the Rothko for about $78 million, a price between recent auction sales and below the $87 million artist record. (Reflecting Rothko's skyrocketing prices, this work was sold by financier-art dealer Robert Mnuchin at Christie's in 2007 for $26.9 million.) Serious interest has already been drummed up, but the Tuesday and Wednesday previews will likely deliver a swift sale.

Abigail Esman writes of the highlights among 2,500 works of art for sale in the Swiss city of Basel, including a cache of early Andy Warhol drawings, an unusual Louise Bourgeois nude bronze, and an Ellsworth Kelly sculpture. 

The fair officially opens on June 14.