Rothko .. an appreciation thread.

[Aladdin]

I've been researching and reading up on Rothko for a long time.
My one item on my bucket list is to see the Rothko Room in The Tate, London. An ultimate dream would be to visit the Rothko Chapel but that involves flying so...that might not happen.
Youtube has been great for lectures and interviews.

Here is one I think might be appreciated by Urbanites who like Rothko's life and work.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Rothkos are not there at the Tate Modern atm. On a world tour. I'm not sure when they're back.

That was my favourite room there. I was pissed off to find out they'd gone.

 

[JimW]

Am I right in recalling that the ones at the Tate were done for a restaurant then the commissioner changed their mind? Bet they felt silly later. Have been and it is luminously wonderful.

 

[Aladdin]

Rothkos are not there at the Tate Modern atm. On a world tour. I'm not sure when they're back.

That was my favourite room there. I was pissed off to find out they'd gone.

Oh...I hope they do come back.
Isn't Joan Mitchell in the Room presently?

By the time I am able to travel again safely, I would hope The Rothko Room will be back to itself.

 

[Aladdin]

Am I right in recalling that the ones at the Tate were done for a restaurant then the commissioner changed their mind? Bet they felt silly later. Have been and it is luminously wonderful.

Rothko changed his mind. He went and ate in the restaurant and felt it was all wrong..too exclusive..so he handed back the $35000 and never gave the panels to them. He then donated them to the Tate London. The day they arrived in the Tate was the day he died.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Oh...I hope they do come back.
Isn't Joan Mitchell in the Room presently?

By the time I am able to travel again safely, I would hope The Rothko Room will be back to itself.

I think they will come back. tbh sharing them with the world is fair enough. I just selfishly wanted to look at them the last time I was at the Tate.

 

[Aladdin]

I think they will come back. tbh sharing them with the world is fair enough. I just selfishly wanted to look at them the last time I was at the Tate.

I wonder where they are ? And where they are going?
If they came to Ireland I would risk a train journey to see then.9

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I wonder where they are ? And where they are going?
If they came to Ireland I would risk a train journey to see then.9

In Paris until April next year. After that, don't know. Back to London, I guess.

Tate loans entire Rothko room for blockbuster Paris show

Seems I was wrong anyway. They had moved from the Tate Modern back to the Tate Britain.

How to look at Mark Rothko | Art UK

Even better tbh, if they return there. Tate Britain is a much nicer, and quieter, gallery.

 

[surreybrowncap]

I wonder where they are ? And where they are going?
If they came to Ireland I would risk a train journey to see then.9

https://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en/events/mark-rothko

 

[Aladdin]

https://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en/events/mark-rothko

Thanks surreybrowncap

 

[weltweit]

I need to see his last stuff face to face I think.

I doubt the internet images do them justice.

I have noticed in my photography that the images I really enjoy are abstracts so perhaps I can understand his work if I see it in a gallery.

 

[tommers]

Yeah they were at the Tate Britain next to the Turner gallery. That is also amazing BTW.

I went to see the Sickert exhibition last year and I didn't know they'd moved so it was a great surprise.

 

[tommers]

Definitely have to be seen in person, pictures of them don't do them any justice.

 

[weltweit]

Where have you been tommers I haven't seen you for ages ?

 

[tommers]

Where have you been tommers I haven't seen you for ages ?

I've been about . I guess just not in the same threads as you.....

 

[weltweit]

I've been about . I guess just not in the same threads as you.....

Yes, it is possible. I quite often these days see someone called "a well known member" and I think but how didn't I see them before I guess there are a lot of threads and we can't see them all.

 

[weltweit]

Aladdin thanks for including the video, most interesting - if also quite long

It seems the end of his life was quite sad, estranged from his wife, loosing his sight, ill and depressed. Surprising that people close didn't seem to have thought he might have been a suicide risk.

 

[Aladdin]

I do think Rothko would be turning in his grave at his work showing in a museum named after Louis Vuitton..which pretty much represents the upper classes and money...Rothko was not motivated or impressed by money and was very much a man who spoke for people's rights and for those who could not afford a home.

Aladdin thanks for including the video, most interesting - if also quite long

It seems the end of his life was quite sad, estranged from his wife, loosing his sight, ill and depressed. Surprising that people close didn't seem to have though he might have been a suicide risk.

I probably should have warned urbs as to the length of the video...but it is worth watching.

Yes.Rothko was unwell and was not supposed to raise his arm more than 45 degrees which hindered his ability to paint. He fell out with his wife and moved into his studio. It must have been very difficult for him..living surrounded by his art and yet unable to paint huge canvases.
He was a deep thinker and even deeper emotional person.. poor guy took his life in his studio. It was said that he was found surrounded by his own blood .. as red as his paintings.

 

[weltweit]

I know a bit about old people who are ill, depressed and have lost their partners, I am sad that no one took care of him when he needed them.

 

[Aladdin]

I know a bit about old people who are ill, depressed and have lost their partners, I am sad that no one took care of him when he needed them.

It must have been very rough. He was young enough too. He was only 66 yrs old.
Tough beginning ..leaving Latvia aged 10.. dad died a year later
The Jews were pushed out of Latvia. So Rothko's family fled to the US. He was highly intelligent and got a scholarship to Yale Uni but they rescinded saying that there were too many Jews getting scholarships but he seems to have gotten in and paid his way for 2 years. Then decided it was not for him and leftmn
He also ran into more anti semitism witj ceetain galleries ..one owner / manager told him they had too many Jewish artists signed already. This was when he changed his name from Roskovitch to Rosko.

 

[weltweit]

I hadn't picked up that he was only 66, I must have missed that detail. That is very young indeed.

I did understand about the anti Jewish feeling he encountered from the video. But it was interesting, the two presenters it seems wanted to claim him as a famous Jewish artist rather than just an American artist or just an immigrant artist. I didn't really understand that bit because I didn't know enough about the presenters and or the audience at the lecture. And because I don't really know enough about the multiple identities American immigrants can have.

Would you say that he saw himself as a "Jewish Artist" Aladdin?

 

[Aladdin]

I hadn't picked up that he was only 66, I must have missed that detail. That is very young indeed.

I did understand about the anti Jewish feeling he encountered from the video. But it was interesting, the two presenters it seems wanted to claim him as a famous Jewish artist rather than just an American artist or just an immigrant artist. I didn't really understand that bit because I didn't know enough about the presenters and or the audience at the lecture. And because I don't really know enough about the multiple identities American immigrants can have.

Would you say that he saw himself as a "Jewish Artist" Aladdin?

I think he was very much influenced by his childhood and being an immigrant and he was very aware of anti semitism. He was political and a strong voice for rights...but his art (in my opinion) was non political. He wanted his paintings to communicate emotional qualities and for the viewer to find emotional sense within themselves through his paintings.

I think he wanted to transcend politics .. antisemitism...labels...immigration...he wanted to connect through his paintings. I don't feel he rooted himself in a "defined identity" but he was invested in the bigger picture literally. The vastness of human possibility.

So no. I don't believe he wanted to be called or labelled a Jewish artist. Or indeed an American artist. He just wanted to be a painter of poems and emotions.

Eta.
He did not like Philip Johnson who was a nazi.... (so yeah..he really disliked him) Might have influenced his return of the commission from the Seagram building.

 

[weltweit]

Mark Rothko - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

I always laugh at people who claim they can do just as well, without actually having seen a Rothko in person. Rothko saturated his colors in a way that most people can't even dream of. One thing he would do is the grind stain-glass into powder and mix with his paint to get that level of saturation. Of course, his paintings can be a conservator's nightmare. He tended to paint directly on the canvas without first stretching or priming the canvas. He also did this to saturate the color by making the paint part of the canvas itself. The type of paint he used sometimes rots the canvas, which is partly why a ground is used most of the time. Curators were also unaware of the special needs of his paintings and did silly things like display them in sunlit galleries for long periods of time -- fading the color. My unversity owns a Rothko. It was sadly subjected to this treatment. Now, when they display it, they put it in a dark room with one spotlight on a motion sensor. The effect is stunning.

I sadly, missed this presentation by his son Chris. The painting the museum owns is further down the page:

Christopher Rothko on his father's artistic legacy | Sheldon Museum of Art

sheldonartmuseum.org

His son looks quite a bit like him.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

They're paintings to take your time with. In the old Tate Rothko room, there were seats in the centre of the room. I'd sit and let them flow over me for a few minutes.

I can't really put into words the effect they had on me. It was meditative, even therapeutic to spend time there.

Definitely needs a dark room. Displaying them in bright sunlit rooms feels wrong on loads of levels.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

They're paintings to take your time with. In the old Tate Rothko room, there were seats in the centre of the room. I'd sit and let them flow over me for a few minutes.

I can't really put into words the effect they had on me. It was meditative, even therapeutic to spend time there.

Definitely needs a dark room. Displaying them in bright sunlit rooms feels wrong on loads of levels.

The Chicago Art Institute has a Rothko room, but they just hung stuff on the walls in a room with artificial light turned up on high. It was an uninspiring display. They do the same thing with their Picasso room. It lacks thought, which, as you said, viewing a Rothko requires.

Mark Rothko | The Art Institute of Chicago

Artist

www.artic.edu

There wasn't a bench in the room either.

 

[Aladdin]

I always laugh at people who claim they can do just as well, without actually having seen a Rothko in person. Rothko saturated his colors in a way that most people can't even dream of. One thing he would do is the grind stain-glass into powder and mix with his paint to get that level of saturation. Of course, his paintings can be a conservator's nightmare. He tended to paint directly on the canvas without first stretching or priming the canvas. He also did this to saturate the color by making the paint part of the canvas itself. The type of paint he used sometimes rots the canvas, which is partly why a ground is used most of the time. Curators were also unaware of the special needs of his paintings and did silly things like display them in sunlit galleries for long periods of time -- fading the color. My unversity owns a Rothko. It was sadly subjected to this treatment. Now, when they display it, they put it in a dark room with one spotlight on a motion sensor. The effect is stunning.

I sadly, missed this presentation by his son Chris. The painting the museum owns is further down the page:

Christopher Rothko on his father's artistic legacy | Sheldon Museum of Art

sheldonartmuseum.org

His son looks quite a bit like him.

He also used rabbit glue to prime canvases as that first layer often mixing with pigment.
He used very light diluted layers of paints and various mediums including methylated spirits and indeed egg yolks. He mixed varnish with pigment on parts of his work.. they still don't know every thing he did to get his floating effects. He was extremely private and would not let anyone see him painting.

I've actually tried out painting in many layers . I have painted a couple of homages to him because I wanted to try to experience a litttle of what helis process might have been and I like using oil paint and trying different styles. I got to 30 layers. It was incredibly difficult and that was only on a small canvas. (I wasn't His trying to copy him...I'm not egotistical enough to ever think I could)
his floating shapes are immensely beautiful close up.. and become hazy at a distance. There are hints of tiny imaginary landscapes in the in between spaces.

I was given a few really excellent quality books with really good prints of his paintings. I would love to be able to see one for real.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I was given a few really excellent quality books with really good prints of his paintings. I would love to be able to see one for real.

I hope you get to. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

He also used rabbit glue to prime canvases as that first layer often mixing with pigment.
He used very light diluted layers of paints and various mediums including methylated spirits and indeed egg yolks. He mixed varnish with pigment on parts of his work.. they still don't know every thing he did to get his floating effects. He was extremely private and would not let anyone see him painting.

I've actually tried out painting in many layers . I have painted a couple of homages to him because I wanted to try to experience a litttle of what helis process might have been and I like using oil paint and trying different styles. I got to 30 layers. It was incredibly difficult and that was only on a small canvas. (I wasn't His trying to copy him...I'm not egotistical enough to ever think I could)
his floating shapes are immensely beautiful close up.. and become hazy at a distance. There are hints of tiny imaginary landscapes in the in between spaces.

I was given a few really excellent quality books with really good prints of his paintings. I would love to be able to see one for real.

Yes, it seems like he was experimental with his painting techniques. He also used metallics and pure powdered pigment purchases from housepaint stores. According to his son, he wasn't even allowed in the studio and never saw him paint or see canvases in progress. I'm glad you've experimented with painting similar works. Maybe you could post them to the art thread?

I hope you get to see one. Reproductions just don't do them justice.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

New exhibit of Rothko's work here:

Mark Rothko Gets a Radical Rethink at the Fondation Louis Vuitton | Artsy

A new monumental exhibition in Paris, co-curated by Rothko’s son, explores the full range of his works.

www.artsy.net