Artifact

Mark Rothko – Anderson Collection At Stanford University

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Mark Rothko was born in Russia on September 25, 1903. He immigrated to the United States, with his family in the mid 20th century. A famous artist among the New York painters, Rothko transformed his artistic style several times. He abandoned the conventional style in 1947 and started painting his signature style of soft, rectangular forms floating on a tinted background to evoke emotional responses. 

Pink, White over Red, reflects Mark Rothko’s mature style. Two rectangles, white and red, are set within a pink background that surrounds them but also splits them from one another. The edges of the rectangles are soft, which allows the viewer’s eye to sweep from one end of the canvas to the other in a meditative way.

During the last decade of his life, Rothko began to paint in darker colors: maroon, brown and black. He painted Untitled (Black on Gray) and stopped explaining the meaning of his work. Rothko’s famous quote “Silence Is So Accurate,” portrays his sentiments clearly, fearing that words would only paralyze the viewer’s mind and imagination. Rothko suffered from depression after he was diagnosed with heart trouble in 1968. He committed suicide on February 25, 1970.

When I see his paintings, I get the feeling that his earlier painting depicts happiness and spirituality while the latter one expresses birth and death. This artifact clarifies my guiding question: what is abstract art?

Reference

Mark, Rothko. (2019, June 30). Paintings [Pink and White over Red, 1957  Untitled (Black on Gray) 1969 by Mark Rothko]. Anderson Collection, Stanford University, Stanford, California.

Featured Image: Bhansali, V. Taupo Volcanic Zone. 2019. Photograph. Rotorua, New Zealand.