Mark Rothko Barnett Newman The Colour Field Painters Mark Rothko Barnett Newman Clifford Still

Mark Rothko (1903-1970) Latvian born, Russian Jew Rothko is one of the pre-eminent painters of his generation. Father fled from the Russian Empire in 1910 due to fear that his sons would be drafted for the Czarist Army. Created new form of abstract painting known as Colour Field painting. Academically minded –Yale University. Also attended the New York School of Desgin, Gorky was one of his instructors. Physically ill and suffering from Depression he committed suicide in 1970.

Mark Rothko: Untitled (Three Nudes) (c. 1926/1935)

Mark Rothko: Street Scene (c. 1937)

Mark Rothko: Entrance to Subway [Subway Scene] (1938)

Street Scene (c. 1937) and Entrance to Subway [Subway Scene] (1938) In the 1930’s, Rothko’s early years, he becomes interested in painting street scenes and subway pictures. Like many artists who are developing a style, he moves from observational work with expressionist undertones. More interested in conveying the perceptual experience of architectural space than providing a realistic portrayal of the city. Early works show and Expressionistic quality, though the work is unrefined, that of a budding artist.

Mark Rothko: Sacrifice of Iphigenia (1942)

Mark Rothko: Sea Fantasy (1946)

Mark Rothko: Untitled (1945-1946)

Mark Rothko: Sea Fantasy (1946) and Untitled (1945-1946) During the 1940’s imagery becomes increasingly symbolic. –reflection of social climate of anxiety that dominated late 1930’s and war years. Devoted to themes of myth, prophecy, archaic ritual, and the unconscious mind, Rothko’s paintings of the mid 1940’s are characterised by a bio-morphic style. Joan Miro, Gorky, Surrealism.

Mark Rothko: Number 7 (1947/1948) Mark Rothko: No. 9 [Multiform] (1948)

Mark Rothko: No. 17/No. 15 [Multiform] (1949) Mark Rothko: No. 8 [Multiform] (1949)

Mark Rothko: Untitled (1949)

Mark Rothko 1947-49 Colour Surface Scale Proportion By 1949 Rothko had introduced a compositional format that he would continue to develop throughout his career. A sustained concentration on the pure properties of the picture space Colour Surface Scale Proportion Figurative associations and references to the natural world disappeared. Linear elements progressively eliminated as colour becomes paramount A conviction that these alone can disclose the presence of a high philosophical truth

Surface Mark Rothko, No. 10,1950. Oil on canvas, 229 x 146 cm Mark Rothko: White Center (1950)

The Meaning of Surface: Mark Rothko Liquid paint soaks into the canvas leaving soft, indistinct edges, while whitish outlines surround some like haloes. Shapes convey emotional states. Paints the edges of his stretched canvases, which he displayed without confining frames.

Colour Mark Rothko: Orange and Tan (1954) Mark Rothko: Untitled  (c. 1950-2) Oil on canvas 189 x 100 cm

Mark Rothko: Orange and Red (1957) Oil on canvas, 231 x 180.3 cm, Colour Mark Rothko: Untitled (1953) Mark Rothko: Orange and Red (1957) Oil on canvas, 231 x 180.3 cm,

The Meaning of Colour: Mark Rothko Mark Rothko explores with real mastery the expressive potential of colour contrasts and modulations. Colour takes on an unprecedented luminosity; brilliant hues and broad thin washes of colour. Large floating rectangles of colour that seem to engulf the spectator. Colour and structure are inseparable. The forms themselves consist of colour alone. The luminescence establishes a layered depth that complements and vastly enriches the vertical architecture of the composition.

Mark Rothko: Light Red Over Black (1957) Oil on canvas 230 x 152 x 3 Mark Rothko: Light Red Over Black  (1957) Oil on canvas 230 x 152 x 3.8 cm

Theory Behind the Work of Rothko “The elimination of all obstacles between the painter and the idea and between the idea and the observer.” Obstacles include: memory, history, geography. Clarity unmarred by subject matter. Resists explaining the meaning of the work “silence is so accurate”.

Handout SCALE : Mark Rothko The large scale of these canvases was intended to contain or envelop the viewer –not to be “grandiose” But “intimate and human”. Small pictures since the renaissance are like novels: large pictures are like dramas in which one participates in a direct way. Visual elements such as luminosity, darkness, broad space, and the contrast of colours are used in this context to explore profound themes such as tragedy, ecstasy and the sublime.

In Rothko’s words: My interest is “only in expressing human emotions –tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on. The fact that a lot of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions… The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them.”

ACTION PAINTERS MARK ROTHKO Washed or lightly brushed thin layers of oil paint. Radiate a powerful range of human emotions and moods. Vigorous brushstrokes Paintings bursting with energy.

Red on Maroon  1959, Oil on canvas

Mark Rothko: Untitled [Black with White] (1963)

Mark Rothko: Untitled (1968)

Rothko in the 60’s With a few exceptions, a darkened palette dominated Rothko’s work throughout the 1960’s. Developed the painstaking technique of overlaying colours until, in the words of Art Historian Dore Ashton, “his surfaces were as velvety as poems of the night.”

Rothko, Mark Interior, the Rothko Chapel North view, including the apse triptych at far right Houston, Texas

The Rothko Chapel Non-denominational chapel in Texas houses his final 14 works. Rothko chapel culminates a career in art that chartered a gradually growing concern for the transcendent. Supremely sombre in tone they represent the ‘tragic impulse’ by presenting it freed from its attachment to prior forms of knowledge. Possible Christ connotations. A view of the infinite. Compared to Sistine chapel, and Matisse Chapel.

Exam question: Identify the artist’s method of paint application. Explain why this method was used by Rothko, make reference to the philosophies and practices to Abstract Expressionism. Reference the following painting…

Red, Orange, Tan and Purple - Mark Rothko