Untitled, Mark Rothko, 1968

Mark Rothko's transition from representational figures and documentary-style painting to his iconic color squares has always interested me. Particularly how much more emotional intensity is placed into such "simplistic" images compared to his work comprised of day in the life. One's goal as an artist could be defined as achieving a balance between simplicity of form and meaning. Rothko achieves this by forcing people to confront stillness and burdening the viewer to come to terms with how the canvas is meant to be viewed. By the mid-1940s he'd done away with representational titles in preference for numbering his works or simply leaving them "Untitled". I don't believe viewing this work online does it justice as half of the quality of the work is the gallery it's placed in. Contrasted against the usually stark and bland walls of art institutions, Rothko's canvases are truly massive in scale and feel as if you are bound to be enveloped in this emptiness. He creates an illusion of depth where the colors fade in and out of focus. Thinking about art as a means of therapy for the creator regardless of the eventual product is also important here. Rothko endured a some might say monotonous process of creating this work which involved hundreds of repetitive layers of paint that add to this sense of a living image, he could've created these forms and contrasts fairly easily though I believe the labor of it all existed as a meditation on living. Returning to the same work over and over again with change being so gradual it takes a lot of patience to work in the way Rothko did as life takes much patience and practice, we spend our whole lives practicing. (week 8)