Mark Rothko

조회 461 |추천 0 | 2003.04.27. 17:49

Mark Rothko in his West 53rd Street studio, c. 1953, photograph by Henry Elkan, courtesy Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Rudi Blesh Papers one of the preeminent artists of his generation, Mark Rothko is closely identified with the New York School, a circle of painters that emerged during the 1940s as a new collective voice in American art. During a career that spanned five decades, he created a new and impassioned form of abstract painting. Rothko's work is characterized by rigorous attention to formal elements such as color, shape, balance, depth, composition, and scale; yet, he refused to consider his paintings solely in these terms. He explained:It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as good painting about nothing. Ma rk Rothko, Untitled (three nudes), c. 1926/1935, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.94 Milton Avery, Rothko with Pipe, 1936, National Gallery of Art, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1974.123.1 In the late 1920s, he met and befriended the modernist painter Milton Avery, whose simplified and colorful depictions of domestic subjects had a profound influence on Rothko's early development, particularly his application of paint and treatment of color. Avery's home became a meeting place for artists, who attended weekly life drawing sessions there. Bernard Karfiol, an instructor at the Art Students League, included Avery and Rothko in Group Exhibition: Artists Selected by Bernard Karfiol,at the Opportunity Gallery in 1928. Mark Rothko, Street Scene, c. 1937, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.21 In 1929 Rothko began teaching children at the Center Academy of the Brooklyn Jewish Center, a position he retained for more than twenty years. In the 1930s Rothko painted mostly street scenes and interiors with figures. Rejecting conventional modes of representation, he stressed an emotional approach to the subject--an approach he admired in children's art--and adopted a style characterized by deliberate deformations and a crude application of paint. Mark Rothko, Untitled, late 1920s, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.204 Rothko was given his first one-person exhibitions in 1933 at the Museum of Art in Portland, Oregon, and a few months later at the Contemporary Arts Gallery in New York. The latter exhibition included landscapes, nudes, portraits, and city scenes. Mark Rothko, Self-Portrait,1936, Collection of Christopher Rothko At the end of 1934 Rothko participated in an exhibition at the Gallery Secession, whose members included Louis Harris, Adolph Gottlieb, Ilya Bolotowsky, and Joseph Solman; several months later these artists left the Secession to form their own group, the Ten, which exhibited together eight times between 1935 and 1939. Rothko's paintings in the Ten's exhibitions were ｅxpression‍ist in style. During this period he worked in the easel division of the WPA (Works Progress Administration), a federally-sponsored arts project. Mark Rothko, Underground Fantasy [Subway],c. 1940, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.130 He produced a number of haunting images of the New York subway, in which windows, portals, and walls serve as structural and expressive devices of confinement. Rothko shows the subway as a measured yet eccentric place, containing a dramatic contrast of perspectival extremes: walls and railings are represented as flat screens, while tracks recede sharply. Figures can be identified by anecdotal details of dress as commuters, shoppers, or schoolchildren, but they are largely attenuated, faceless, and flat. Mark Rothko, sketchbook drawing, mid-1930s, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc. Ultimately, Rothko's characters are remote ciphers that establish scale. As such, they possess a haunted air, as if existing solely to inhabit the border that separates real and pictorial space. Mark Rothko, Entrance to Subway [Subway Scene],1938, Collection of Kate Rothko Prizel Rothko's street scenes and subway pictures of the 1930s have been compared to examples of Ashcan School and Depression-era realist painting, but this resemblance is likely based on the perception of a shared urban motif. Rather than providing a "realistic" portrayal of the city life, Rothko seems far more interested in conveying the perceptual experience of architectural space, using abstract compositional arrangements to explore the relationship between the painting and its viewer, an element that would play a critical role in the artist's later works. Mark Rothko, The Omen of the Eagle,1942, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.107 During the 1940s Rothko's imagery became increasingly symbolic. In the social climate of anxiety that dominated the late 1930s and the years of World War II, images from everyday life--however unnaturalistic--began to appear somewhat outmoded. If art were to express the tragedy of the human condition, Rothko felt, new subjects and a new idiom had to be found. He said, "It was with the utmost reluctance that I found the figure could not serve my purposes....But a time came when none of us could use the figure without mutilating it." Mark Rothko, Sacrifice of Iphigenia,1942, Collection of Christopher Rothko In a 1943 letter to the New York Times,written with Adolph Gottlieb and Barnett Newman, Rothko said: It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints, as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as a good painting about nothing. We assert that the subject is crucial and only that subject matter is valid which is tragic and timeless. That is why we profess a spiritual kinship with primitive and archaic art." Sacrifice of Iphigeniaexemplifies Rothko's interest in classical literature. Describing another painting also inspired by the writings of Aeschylus, Rothko explained: "The picture deals not with the particular anecdote, but rather with the Spirit of Myth, which is generic to all myths at all times." Mark Rothko, Gethsemane,1944, Collection of Kate Rothko Prizel The Old and New Testaments also became a rich source of inspiration, as seen in Gethsemane.The title refers to the garden near Jerusalem that was the scene of the agony and betrayal of Christ. In a radio broadcast Rothko responded thoughtfully to the question: "Are not these pictures really abstract paintings with literary titles?" If our titles recall the known myths of antiquity, we have used them again because they are the eternal symbols upon which we must fall back to express basic psychological ideas. They are the symbols of man's primitive fears and motivations, no matter in which land or what time, changing only in detail but never in substance....Our presentation of these myths, however, must be in our own terms which are at once more primitive and more modern than the myths themselves--more primitive because we seek the primeval‍ and atavistic roots of the ideas rather than their graceful classical version; more modern than the myths themselves because we must redescribe their implications through our own experience....The myth holds us, therefore, not through its romantic flavor, not the remembrance of beauty of some bygone age, not through the possibilities of fantasy, but because it expresses to us something real and existing in ourselves, as it was to those who first stumbled upon the symbols to give them life. Mark Rothko, Hierarchical Birds,1944, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.20 Some works are composed in horizontal bands, which have been said to represent geological strata--possibly a metaphor for the unconscious. Mark Rothko, Sea Fantasy,1946, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.8 Devoted to themes of myth, prophecy, archaic ritual, and the unconscious mind, Rothko's paintings of the mid-1940s are characterized by a biomorphic style stimulated by the example of the surrealists, several of whom had recently immigrated to New York from war-torn Europe. Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1944/1945, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.181 Inspired by the surrealist technique of automatic writing--letting the brush meander without conscious control in an attempt to release the creative forces of the unconscious--Rothko loosened up his technique and developed a more abstract imagery. In remarkably free watercolors of the mid-1940s, related to the art of the surrealists Joan Miró, André Masson, as well as Arshile Gorky, Rothko explored the fluidity of the medium to evoke a vision of primeval‍ life. Mark Rothko, Untitled,1945-1946, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.175 Biomorphic forms dance before a background of horizontal bands that resemble the layers of a submarine universe. Luminous and transparent, Rothko's watercolors of this period mark a turning point in his career. Mark Rothko, Number 7,1947/1948, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.,1986.43.120 The artist soon achieved similar effects in his oil paintings by diluting his pigments and applying paint in very thin, overlapping glazes. Mark Rothko, Untitled, c. 1945, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.88 The rectangular strata that serve as a backdrop for the amoeba-like shapes also anticipate the structural components and pictorial spaces of Rothko's later format. Mark Rothko, Rites of Lilith,1945, Collection of Kate Rothko Prizel The first appearance of large-scale canvases such as Rites of Lilithheralds another significant change in Rothko's work. 1903년 러시아에서 출생하여 1970년 자살로 삶을 마감하기까지 초현실주의의 영향을 받은 추상화가로서의 면모를 유감없이 보여준 마크로스코Mark Rothko는 큰 화면에 2개나 3개의 색면을 수평으로 배열한 작품을 남긴 것으로 유명하다. '추상화된 도치'라고 설명되는 로스코의 기법을 보여주는 작품들은 이번 경매에서도 가장 주목을 받는 것들 중의 하나이다. 'No. 18(Brown and Black on Plum)'이라는 타이틀의 작품으로 감정가가 약 US$10,000,000에 이른다. Mark Rothko, Orange and Tan,1954, National Gallery of Art, Gift of Enid A. Haupt, 1977.47.13 By 1949 Rothko had introduced a compositional format that he would continue to develop throughout his career. Comprised of several vertically aligned rectangular forms set within a colored field, Rothko's "image" lent itself to a remarkable diversity of appearances. In these works, large scale, open structure and thin layers of color combine to convey the impression of a shallow pictorial space. Color, for which Rothko's work is perhaps most celebrated, here attains an unprecedented luminosity. His classic paintings of the 1950s are characterized by expanding dimensions and an increasingly simplified use of form, brilliant hues, and broad, thin washes of color. In his large floating rectangles of color, which seem to engulf the spectator, he explored with a rare mastery of nuance the expressive potential of color contrasts and modulations. Mark Rothko, Untitled,1948, Collection of Kate Rothko Prizel In their manifesto in the New York TimesRothko and Gottlieb had written: "We favor the simple ｅxpression‍ of the complex thought. We are for the large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal. We wish to reassert the picture plane. We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth." By 1947 Rothko had virtually eliminated all elements of surrealism or mythic imagery from his works, and nonobjective compositions of indeterminate shapes emerged. Mark Rothko, No. 17/No. 15 [Multiform],1949, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.142 Figurative associations and references to the natural world disappeared from Rothko's paintings of the late 1940s. Linear elements were progressively eliminated as asymmetrically arranged patches of color became the basis of his compositions. The paintings of 1947-1949 are sometimes referred to as multiforms to distinguish them from the more distilled compositions that follow. Certain multiforms retain the play of figure, line, and ground that Rothko employed in his works on paper from 1944-1946, and various textural effects are directly related to his experiments in watercolor and gouache. Mark Rothko, Untitled [Multiform],1948, Collection of Kate Rothko Prizel In these multiforms the liquid paint soaks the canvas, leaving soft, indistinct edges, while whitish outlines surround some of the shapes like haloes. Rothko now relied on these shapes, which replaced the earlier biomorphic motifs, to convey emotional states. Throughout this series the artist's work reveals a greater breadth of both composition and scale and a heightened attention to color. At this point Rothko began to paint the edges of his stretched canvases, which he displayed without confining frames. Mark Rothko, No. 9 [Multiform],1948, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.143 For him, eschewing representation permitted greater clarity, "the elimination of all obstacles between the painter and the idea and between the idea and the observer." As examples of such obstacles, Rothko gave "memory, history, or geometry, which are swamps of generalization from which one might pull out parodies of ideas (which are ghosts) but never an idea in itself. To achieve this clarity is, inevitably, to be understood." For Rothko clarity in painting represented visual apprehension unmediated by subject matter and style. Mark Rothko, No. 8 [Multiform], 1949, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, 1986.43.147 During the late 1940s, Rothko described the conception of a painting in which "shapes"--or "performers"--first emerge as "an unknown adventure in an unknown space." In the journal Possibilities he explained that these "shapes have no direct association with any particular visible experience, but in them, one recognizes the principle and passion of organisms." He later wrote: "...art to me is an anecdote of the spirit, and the only means of making concrete the purpose of its varied quickness and stillness." Mark Rothko, Untitled,1949, Collection Kate Rothko Prizel Like many New York artists of his generation, Rothko struggled with categorical distinctions between abstraction and representation and his ambition to invest nonfigurative art with transcendent content that would rival the elemental role of myth and ritual in archaic culture. In this regard, "unknown" pictorial space describes a realm that somehow surpasses two dimensions while avoiding the illusive three-dimensional space of conventional representation. Mark Rothko, Untitled,1949, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.138 Rothko largely abandoned conventional titles in 1947, sometimes resorting to numbers or colors in order to distinguish one work from another. The artist also now resisted explaining the meaning of his work. "Silence is so accurate," he said, fearing that words would only paralyze the viewer's mind and imagination. Mark Rothko, No. 10,1950. Oil on canvas, 229.2 x 146.4 cm (90 1/4 x 57 5/8), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift of Philip Johnson, 1952, © 1998, The Museum of Modern Art, New York By 1950 Rothko had reduced the number of floating rectangles to two, three, or four and aligned them vertically against a colored ground, arriving at his signature style. Mark Rothko, White Center,1950, Private Collection From that time on he would work almost invariably within this format, suggesting in numerous variations of color and tone an astonishing range of atmospheres and moods. Mark Rothko, No. 2 (No. 7 and No. 2), 1951 (alternatively dated to 1950), Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia Now applied in thin washes (often composed of both oil and egg-based media), color achieved a new luminosity. Rothko's technique appears simple, but on close examination is richly varied in its range of effects. At times, paint can be seen running upward across the surface; this is because the artist often inverted a picture while working on it, sometimes changing the final orientation at a late stage. Mark Rothko, Untitled [Blue, Green, and Brown],1952 (alternatively dated to 1951), Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia In these paintings, color and structure are inseparable: the forms themselves consist of color alone, and their translucency establishes a layered depth that complements and vastly enriches the vertical architecture of the composition. Variations in saturation and tone as well as hue evoke an elusive yet almost palpable realm of shallow space. Color, structure, and space combine to create a unique presence. In this respect, Rothko stated that the large scale of these canvases was intended to contain or envelop the viewer--not to be "grandiose," but "intimate and human." Mark Rothko, Untitled,1953, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1983.43.135 Through his pursuit of a deeply original pictorial language, Rothko maintained a commitment to profound content. Although he rarely specified a precise interpretation for these works, he believed in their potential for metaphysical or symbolic meaning. In a lecture at the Pratt Institute, Rothko told the audience that "small pictures since the Renaissance are like novels; large pictures are like dramas in which one participates in a direct way." Mark Rothko, Untitled [Seagram Mural],c. 1958, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.156 Rothko's work began to darken dramatically during the late 1950s. This development is related to his work on a mural commission for the Four Seasons restaurant, located in the Seagram Building in New York City. Here Rothko turned to a palette of red, maroon, brown, and black. The artist eventually withdrew from this project, due to misgivings about the restaurant as a proper setting for his work. He had, however, already produced a number of studies and finished canvases, two of which are included in the present installation. In the Seagram panels, Rothko changed his motif from a closed to an open form, suggesting a threshold or portal. This element may have been related to the architectural setting for which these works were intended. Mark Rothko, Untitled [No.4],1964, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.,1986.43.152 With some exceptions, the darkened palette continued to dominate Rothko's work well into the 1960s. He developed a painstaking technique of overlaying colors until, in the words of art historian Dore Ashton, "his surfaces were velvety as poems of the night." Mark Rothko, Untitled,1968, Private Collection Rothko's reading of Nietzsche, the nineteenth-century German philosopher, suggests that his compositions could represent the binary opposition between a rational or abstract element versus an emotional, primal, or tragic one (referring to Nietzsche's discussion of the polarity between an Apollonian and a Dionysian principle in artistic ｅxpression‍). Certain qualities such as radiance or the duality of light and dark have a long history of symbolic meaning in Western culture from which Rothko clearly drew. An impression of vast space can be said to represent the historical concept of the "sublime," a quasi-religious experience of limitless immensity in nature. Conversely, these canvases also produce an environment of their own, and installations of Rothko's work create the sensation of a sacrosanct place. Mark Rothko, Untitled,1953, Private Collection At different times during the 1950s and 1960s, Rothko produced a substantial quantity of small works on paper. It is not certain whether these are studies for larger paintings or simply smaller variations employing a similar dynamic of form and color. Rothko had many of them mounted on panel, canvas, or board in order to simulate the presence of unframed canvases. The smaller format especially suited Rothko in 1968, when his physical activity was dramatically curtailed by a heart ailment. Rothko continued to work predominantly on paper even after he returned to a relatively large format in 1969. Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1969, John and Mary Pappajohn, Des Moines, Iowa In a series of brown or black and gray paintings produced from 1969-1970, Rothko divided the composition horizontally and framed the image with a white margin (created by masking the edges of the paper or canvas with tape that was later removed to expose the bare support). The serenity of the dark zone stands out against the turbulent brushwork of the gray section, an area that is further modulated by the addition of ochre or blue. The sharply defined edge establishes a complex interplay between the work and the viewer, who is drawn into the painting by its sensuous treatment, yet kept at a distance by the stark framing device. Mark Rothko, Untitled,1969, Collection of Kate Rothko Prizel In another series from this period, Rothko used a softer range of pink and blue for compositions that sometimes recall smaller works from the mid-1940s. A certain ascetic quality suggests that Rothko had embarked on a new direction, one which may have been related to the reductive work of younger artists at that time. Unlike the minimalists, however, Rothko never abandoned his conviction in the ability of abstract art to be experienced in emotionally expressive terms