I absolutely love El Lissitsky, oh man. I think Rothko will always be one of my all-time favourites. He only got better for me after reading an essay on the Rothko chapel entitled (wait for it): The Existential Allegory of the Rothko Chapel. It sounds ridiculous and the lack of punctuation is... interesting, but once you get through it, oh boy does it blow my mind. I'm rather fond of colour field Abstract Expressionists in general, actually. Barnett Newman influences some of the work I'm doing now. Frankenthaler will always inspire me, too. Joyce Campbell's daguerreotypes are stunning, too. Being taught by her is a treasure. http://www.joycecampbell.com/img/thumbnail.php?img=gallery/l... I have an essay on her I'll post soon, too, once it's marked and stuff. I've been pinged for "stealing" my own writing before (I write under a pen name).
