Isabella Flores
Mark Rothko was an abstract painter who aimed to express basic human emotions through his work. He believed that art should communicate feelings of tragedy, ecstasy, and doom, and that the purpose of art was to evoke strong emotions in the viewer. Rothko's paintings often featured large, vertical rectangles in various colours, which he used to convey different moods and emotions. He wanted viewers to feel enveloped within his paintings, and recommended that they stand close to the canvas to experience a sense of intimacy and awe. While some critics have questioned the meaning of Rothko's abstract style, his work has stood the test of time and continues to spark discussions on artistic principles and the nature of human experience.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Rothko believed that his paintings were the result of conviction in purpose, thousands of hours of experimentation, rejection, and perseverance. |
| Originality | Rothko's style was original, and he believed that art should be a conduit for the art to flow through, rather than the artist being a glorified creator. |
| Intimacy | Rothko wanted viewers to feel enveloped within his paintings, experiencing a sense of intimacy, awe, and transcendence. He recommended viewers stand very close to the canvas. |
| Human experience | Rothko's paintings aimed to express basic human emotions, such as tragedy, ecstasy, and doom. |
| Emotion | Rothko wanted to elicit strong emotions from viewers, believing that making people feel something was the purpose of art. |
| Simplicity | Rothko favoured the simple expression of complex thought. |
| Scale | Rothko used large shapes and canvases to have an impact and to make the viewer feel enveloped. |
| Flat forms | Rothko used flat forms to destroy illusion and reveal truth. |
| Challenge | Rothko criticised those who wanted to live surrounded by less challenging art, noting that his work insulted anyone who was spiritually attuned to interior decoration. |
| Subject matter | Rothko's paintings often referenced classical subjects and ancient art and architecture. |
| Colour | Rothko used luminous colours to evoke varied moods and emotions. |
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What You'll Learn
- Mark Rothko's large-scale paintings were meant to make the viewer feel enveloped within the painting
- Rothko's paintings were not about the relationship of colours but about expressing basic human emotions
- The artist believed that his paintings were an experience and not a picture of an experience
- Rothko's paintings were about the nature of human experience
- The artist's work was influenced by ancient art and architecture
Mark Rothko's large-scale paintings were meant to make the viewer feel enveloped within the painting
Mark Rothko is best known for his large-scale paintings, which he produced from 1949 until his death in 1970. Rothko himself described the reason for his large-scale works, stating:
> "I realize that historically the function of painting large pictures is painting something very grandiose and pompous. The reason I paint them, however... is precisely because I want to be very intimate and human. To paint a small picture is to place yourself outside your experience, to look upon an experience as a stereopticon view or with a reducing glass. However you paint the larger picture, you are in it. It isn't something you command!"
Rothko wanted the viewer to feel enveloped within the painting, and he recommended that viewers position themselves as close as 18 inches from the canvas so that they might experience a sense of intimacy, awe, and transcendence. The relationship between the artwork and the viewer was very important to Rothko, who stated: "A painting is not a picture of an experience; it is an experience."
Rothko's large-scale paintings were also a means of expressing basic human emotions, such as "tragedy, ecstasy, and doom". He stated: "I'm not interested in relationships of color or form or anything else... I'm interested only in expressing basic human emotions... and the fact that lots of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I communicate those basic human emotions." The emotional response to his paintings was so profound that some viewers reported being engulfed by the painting or becoming a part of it.
Rothko's large-scale paintings were also a way to destroy illusion and reveal truth. In a manifesto written in response to a negative review by The New York Times, Rothko and his peer Gottlieb stated: "We favor the simple expression of the complex thought. We are for the large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal. [...] We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth."
Overall, Mark Rothko's large-scale paintings were meant to make the viewer feel enveloped within the painting, creating an intimate and emotional experience that transcended the boundaries of traditional art.
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Rothko's paintings were not about the relationship of colours but about expressing basic human emotions
Mark Rothko is best known for his abstract colour field paintings, which he produced from 1949 to 1970. His work is characterised by soft-edged rectangles arranged vertically against a monochrome background. Rothko's paintings were often large-scale, designed to overwhelm the viewer and make them feel "enveloped within" the painting.
Despite the apparent simplicity of his style, Rothko's work was the result of thousands of hours of experimentation, rejection, and perseverance. The artist himself claimed that his paintings were not about the relationship of colours, but about expressing basic human emotions: "I'm not interested in relationships of colour or form or anything else," he declared. "I'm interested only in expressing basic human emotions—tragedy, ecstasy, doom and so on—and the fact that lots of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I communicate those basic human emotions."
Rothko's work often evoked intense emotions in viewers, with some people breaking down and crying in front of his paintings. This emotional response was central to Rothko's artistic vision. He believed that art should provide an experience for the viewer, rather than simply depicting an experience: "A painting is not a picture of an experience; it is an experience," he stated.
The relationship between the artwork and the viewer was of paramount importance to Rothko. He recommended that viewers position themselves as little as 18 inches away from the canvas to experience "a sense of intimacy, awe, a transcendence of the individual and a sense of the unknown." This sense of intimacy was also a reason why Rothko painted on a large scale. He explained: "To paint a small picture is to place yourself outside your experience, to look upon an experience as a stereopticon view or with a reducing glass. However you paint the larger picture, you are in it."
Rothko's paintings were not intended to be purely decorative. In response to a negative review by The New York Times, Rothko and his peer Gottlieb issued a manifesto, stating: "We wish to reassert the picture plane. We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth [...] our work [...] must insult anyone who is spiritually attuned to interior decoration."
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The artist believed that his paintings were an experience and not a picture of an experience
Mark Rothko is known for his abstract paintings, which often referenced classical subjects and ancient art and architecture. He is associated with the American abstract expressionist movement of modern art.
Rothko's paintings were large in scale, and he worked on vertical canvases. He used rectangles in his paintings, which were coloured in various colours, depending on the message he was trying to convey. These rectangles were presented with a brightly coloured background, giving the image that they were floating. He adopted this style in all his works, and that gave him numerous ideas in terms of the combination of colour and proportion.
Rothko believed that his paintings were an experience and not a picture of an experience. He wanted his paintings to overwhelm the viewer, or, in his words, to make the viewer feel "enveloped within" the painting. He recommended that viewers position themselves as little as eighteen inches away from the canvas so that they might experience a sense of intimacy, as well as awe, a transcendence of the individual and a sense of the unknown. People have recounted experiences of being engulfed by the painting or becoming a part of it.
Rothko also believed that his paintings were about nothing less than the very nature of human experience:
> "I'm interested only in expressing basic human emotions—tragedy, ecstasy, doom and so on, and the fact that lots of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I communicate those basic human emotions... And if you, as you say, are moved only by their colour relationships, then you miss the point!"
He also stated that his paintings were not about "relationships of colour or form or anything else". Instead, he aimed to express basic human emotions, and he believed that those who were moved only by the colour relationships in his paintings were missing the point.
The artist's work has been described as having a religious aura, and some viewers have reported feeling extremely emotional in front of his paintings.
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Rothko's paintings were about the nature of human experience
Mark Rothko is one of the most recognizable artists of the 20th century, known for his abstract paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular regions of color. However, Rothko himself insisted that his paintings were about "nothing less than the very nature of human experience".
Rothko aimed to express "basic human emotions" through his art, such as tragedy, ecstasy, and doom. He believed that art should communicate these emotions and that the viewer's experience of the painting was integral to its meaning. He once stated: "A painting is not a picture of an experience; it is an experience".
The large scale of his works was intended to overwhelm the viewer, or as Rothko put it, to make them feel "enveloped within" the painting. He encouraged viewers to stand as close as eighteen inches away from the canvas to experience a sense of intimacy, awe, and transcendence. This relationship between the artwork and the viewer was of utmost importance to Rothko, who wanted to create a direct, uninterrupted experience.
Rothko's paintings often elicited strong emotional responses, with some people breaking down and crying in front of them. This response was not limited to viewers; Rothko himself experienced intense emotions while creating his works, referring to them as "miraculous". The artist's intention and emotional state became part of the artwork, with Rothko stating: "The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them".
The abstract nature of Rothko's paintings, devoid of descriptive titles or recognizable imagery, left the interpretation open to the viewer's experience. This ambiguity sparked discussions and discourse on the nature of art and the role of the artist, with some critics arguing that the large scale of his works made up for a lack of substance. However, Rothko's dedication to his craft and the thousands of hours he spent experimenting, refining, and persevering with his style resulted in a body of work that continues to evoke varied moods and emotions in those who view them.
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The artist's work was influenced by ancient art and architecture
Mark Rothko is known for his radical refusal to copy nature, reducing his paintings to large, vibrant fields of colour. His work is often associated with the American abstract expressionism movement of modern art.
Rothko's work was influenced by ancient Greek tragedians such as Aeschylus, as well as Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy. His paintings were also influenced by ancient mythical themes, which he incorporated into his work during his "transitional" years from 1940 to 1950. During this time, he also travelled to Rome, Florence, Venice, and Pompeii, where he visited Michelangelo's Laurentian Library and drew inspiration from the vestibule of the library.
In his mature or "classic" period from 1951 to 1970, Rothko consistently painted rectangular regions of colour, intending to elicit an emotional response from the viewer. He saw his paintings as dramas and wanted to create a consummated experience between the picture and the onlooker.
Rothko's work was also influenced by his interest in religion. The Rothko Chapel, for example, was originally intended to be Roman Catholic, and its octagonal shape is based on a Byzantine church. The format of the triptychs is based on paintings of the Crucifixion.
Additionally, Rothko's early expressionist paintings were influenced by his instructors Max Weber and Arshile Gorky. Weber, who had firsthand knowledge of European modernism, taught Rothko to view art as a vehicle for emotional and religious expression. Gorky's leadership of the class was described by Rothko as "overcharged with supervision".
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Frequently asked questions
Mark Rothko believed that his paintings were about nothing less than the very nature of human experience. He once said, "I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions—tragedy, ecstasy, doom and so on, and the fact that lots of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I communicate those basic human emotions."
When a journalist asked Rothko to explain his paintings, he replied with "Silence is so accurate". Rothko's statement may be interpreted as an indication that his paintings do not convey any specific message.
Mark Rothko painted on large canvases to overwhelm the viewer and make them feel "enveloped within" the painting. He also believed that painting on a large scale allowed him to be very intimate and human.
Mark Rothko's use of rectangles in his paintings is believed to be a way to evoke varied moods and emotions in viewers. The rectangles are often coloured differently and set against brightly coloured backgrounds, creating an image of floating shapes.
