Mark Rothko - Contradiction between flatness and depth - Research Paper Example

Mark Rothko’s Works Mark Rothko’s Works Markus Yakovlevich Rothkovich known to many as Mark Rothko was a painter from America with a Russian Jewish descent. He was born in 1903 on the twenty fifth of September and died in 1970 on the twenty fifth of February. He is also said to be an abstract expressionist who in his days decided not to follow or imitate any art movement that was being witnessed at the time. In 1913, Rothko while at Lincoln high school successfully completed his secondary education. Furthermore, he was said to be adept in discussions that involved politics and just like his father Jacob Rothkovich Mark Rothko was passionate when it came down to matters that concerned human rights. Rothko after high school received a scholarship to join Yale University but lost the scholarship at the end of the year and in order to support his own studies he worked as a delivery boy and a waiter.1 When did Rothko start his life as an artist? In 1923, he went to visit one of his friends at the Art students’ league in New York where he got the opportunity to see students sketching. This really impressed him and later he decided to enroll in a school of design. One of the instructors that he met was artist Arshile Gorky. Out of the passion he had for art, he undertook other classes at the Art Students League. At the time, painters in New York were having many shows to display their artistic expressions and this largely helped Rothko as an artist.2 Rothko had his first art gallery show in the contemporary art gallery in New York. He displayed fifteen paintings that were mostly portraits and some drawings that were all oil based paintings. “The ten” was a group that was formed by some artists including Mark Rothko during the late 1935. Their main mission was to object the alleged equivalence of literal painting and American painting. At this time his art started to evolve and he came to the conclusion that his paintings will be influenced by symbols and mythological fables and it became more evident in his later works. This made him gain a reputation amongst people his age and also those who had an eye for art in terms of painting. He then later on changed his works from mythological forms and representations to the use of rectangular smooth fields of light and color.3 From 1946, Mark Rothko came up with a number of artistic expressions. Most people referred most of his works as multiform paintings though he himself did not call them that. He stated that these paintings were human expressions that could be referred to as self-contained or said to possess an organic structure. He stated that the blurred rectangles in his paintings had a breath of life that could not be witnessed in other art forms that were being displayed by other artists at the time.4 The multiform paintings soon became the most commonly known and used style. Critics such as Harold Rosenberg saw the paintings as revelations. He invited a few friends including Rosenberg to his home in East Hampton to see the paintings he had come up with. During one of the meetings with his friends he stated that: During the past people used to paint large paintings only when the artists intend to pain something that can be considered to be large in its actual existence. I however use large paintings or come up with large paintings because I want to be human and intimate. Painting small pictures actually puts the artist outside all the experience they could have had… once one paints a large picture then most certainly they are in it and it is not something the painter will command.5 Fourteen of his mural paintings are found in the Rothko chapel at the St. Thomas catholic university campus funded by Dominique de Menil and John. Most of them are extremely large and are in maroon, dark purple and in black. It is said that they portray the feelings that Mark Rothko had in his final days. Unfortunately he did not live to see the day the chapel was opened.6 What are the examples of some of his works? During his lifetime Mark painted a number of pictures but most of the paintings that became famous and brought him in to the limelight are the paintings he did after embracing multiform paintings. In 1935, he painted the crucifixion which is viewed to have a strong relationship to religion and the lamentation of dead Christ. In 1938, he painted the entrance to the subway which according to critics showed how Mark Rothko had a passion towards the then urban life. In 1958 he painted the four darks in red. According to him this was another way of representing the spirits that existed. The inspiration could have been drawn from slow swirl at the edge of the sea which was another painting he did in 1944 but he decided to use a different style in expressing his feelings. What is the contradiction between flatness and depth? The four darks in red is one of Mark Rothko’s paintings in which he used only color and shape to express himself. He painted this picture in 1958. Currently it is in the Whitney museum of American art that is in New York. The painting is two hundred and fifty eight centimeters tall wide and two hundred and ninety four centimeters tall. The painting is done with oil based paints on a canvas. It is true to state that Mark Rothko did not apply flatness and depth directly as most of the other painters. He instead came up with a way to get the maxim of depth and flatness evident in some of his paintings. He turned flat materials which were the canvases to deep ethical dignity in the most simplest of ways. Once Rothko started displaying this maxim in his art works he was viewed as an American modernist by many rather than a surrealist. What really happens in such paintings is that the tension that exists between depth and flatness would create an ambiguous space that would bring to the viewer’s eye the aspect of depth in an image. The four darks in red not only brings out the maxim of depth and flatness but movement. Though anyone who shallowly observes the painting on the stationary canvas might say that movement cannot be seen, it is evident that the areas that have the hue seem to be in motion or vibrate.7 The idea of movement or motion can be said to be an optical illusion as it happens in the observer’s eyes and mind but does not in any way happen on the painted canvas. With a keen look at the image the observer is send into deep meditation and this bring a pleasant feeling. At the top of the canvas lays a thin strip that seems to be a mixture of red and brown. The red is most likely the red that is used as the background of the canvas. The second layer from the top is a large area that looks black from a distant. It is said that this particular region was first stained with a blue hue and then later on a green hue was put over the blue hue. This in turn appears black because of the combination of colors. The third layer on the painting is violet on the red background of the canvas and the bottom layer is slightly darkened crimson of the red background.8 Mark Rothko is famously known for this style where he paints paint horizontally across the canvases with blurred backgrounds. It is difficult to understand what the artist really means but it can be said that the pieces do not have an actual meaning in real sense but the meaning is found in painting itself. This type of painting are not done by the painters to be understood but rather to be enjoyed by the viewers and capture their attention so that the viewers can boost their moods or get into deep thoughts. How does the four darks in red fit into the larger artist practice? The four darks in red fit into the larger artistic field as it holds all the values that a good painting would hold. The painting gives the observers different perspectives just like any good painting would. At the first glare of the painting one is tempted to question the meaning of the painting and everyone would come to different conclusion about the image. The painting has its aesthetic value as it attract so many people to come see it and get a chance to get to know the kind of mood and thought the image brings. For a painting to be said to be fitting in the larger artistic practice it is important for the piece to be attractive. How does the painting relate to its immediate movement and to the larger art historical period of contemporary art 1960-present? The 1960s was a period that had tremendous social, political and artistic activities that were witnessed in the United States of America. Many artists were influenced by this and depicted these activities in their paintings. One political activity that was being witnessed is the fight against racism. It can be argued that Mark Rothko was inspired with the fight against racism. In his painting of the four darks in red one might state that no matter what comes on the red the red will remain red and would not be changed. This means no matter the color of skin human beings are all the same.(10) It can also be stated that during the 1960s people were divided as a result of racism and different political thought. The four shades on the red can be used to indicate that people are not united since there is a clearly gap that separates them. During this period the United States of America had many people who were migrating into the country and the sizes of the colors on the red can be used to represent the different people and their populations.9 (10) Source: www.lucinda.net Bibliography: 1. Rothko, Mark, Jeffrey Weiss, and John Gage. Mark Rothko. Fondation Beyeler, 2001. 2. Breslin, James E.B. 1998. Mark Rothko: a biography. Chicago, Ill. u.a: Univ. of Chicago Press. 3. Rothko, Mark, and Miguel López-Remiro. 2006. Writings on art. [New Haven]: Yale Univ. Press. 4. Guilbaut, Serge. How New York stole the idea of modern art. University of Chicago Press, 1985. 5. Seldes, Lee. The Legacy of Mark Rothko. Da Capo Press, 1996. 6. Johnson, Steven. "Rothko Chapel and Rothkos Chapel." Perspectives of New Music (1994): 6-53. 7. Weiss, Jeffrey, John Gage, and Mark Rothko. Mark Rothko. Yale University Press, 2000. 8. Rothko, Mark, and David Anfam. Mark Rothko: the works on canvas: catalogue raisonné. Vol. 1. Yale University Press, 1998. 9. Fineberg, Jonathan David. "Art Since 1940 strategies of being." (2000). Read More