Mark Rothko - Abstract Expressionist (1903 - 1970)

Mark Rothko

An american painter of Russian, Jewish decent, he moved to the US aged 10 years with his family to escape the jewish persecution, the memories of which he harboured for the rest of his life and influenced his later works. After studying music, drama,literature, philosophy and mathematics at Yale he was also known for his radical political ideals. He took course at the Art Students League where he learned about cubism, modern classicism and the colour harmonies of Cezanne which was to have an influence on his future work. 

Descending the stairs (1938)

In the 1930's  his work was figurative 'The Subway Scene' (1938). He met Willem de Kooning, Adolf Gotlieb and Barnett Newman around this time and this is when he started to develop his style into the one we know today as abstract expressionism.The war gave Rothko's social and political agenda an urgency, with his contemporaries they worked to make conventional fine art painting seem irrelevant and consequently immoral.

Rothko turned to classical myths to find themes of sufficient magnitude and universality. He worked with Gottlieb to explore Greek tragedy but also the writings of Nietzsche and Jung, and the mechanisms of the unconscious mind. They also wrote a now famous letter to the New York Times : 'It is a widely accepted notion amount painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academic art. There is no such thing as a good painting about nothing.'

No. 14 Emotion & Myth (1960)

Rothko also experimented with surrealism and its mechanisms of the unconscious mind.Clifford Still was a huge influence, rejecting all conventions of painting he taught Rothko at the Californian School of Arts in San Francisco. Rothkos work moved into colour abstraction and larger shapes and horizontal layering of forms by the late 1940's.
He was influenced by Matisse's 'Red Studio' with its large, flat, evenly washed expanse of red canvas.

No. 61 Rust & Blue (1953)

' I am not an abstractionist, I am not interested in the relationship of colour or form or anything else… Im interested only in expressing basic human emotions - tragedy, ecstasy, doom and so on…'

Rothko

Rothko began to distill his ideas, stripping his work down to naked statements of form and colour. At this time he stopped giving statements on his work and said simply "silence is so accurate". 

Seagram Murals

The Seagram Murals remain a controversial talking point when Rothko painted a set of murals for the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York and then withdrew them at the last minute and donated them to the tate Modern, London where they still remain as a permanent exhibition to this day. 

Rothko Chapel

The Chapel Murals was painted for a custom build chapel in Houston, Texas,  this was dark and deeply religious work. "The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them".Rothko.

His work became darker in his later years its suggested it was reflecting his inner depressive state, he committed suicide in 1970.

Influence on my work:
I have leant a lot from Rothko's work, having researched his life and works I have been able to gain a greater understanding of what lies behind these emotive paintings. He manages to translate his inner most emotions onto canvas, he doesn't really need words. Im striving in my Horizon series to capture this emotion following my fathers death and I feel that using Rothkos technique of applying colour in layers allows the painting to move and draw the viewer in. I was striving for a contemplative image which draws the viewer in to evoke emotion, I think I have succeeded but theres a lot more work to do to finesse my work. 

References:
Elkins, J. (2004) Pictures and Tears: A History of People Who Have Cried in Front of Paintings. 1st edn. United Kingdom: Routledge.
Fer, B., Rothko, M., Modern, T. and Borchardt-hume, A. (2008) Rothko: the late series. London: Tate Publishing.
Rothko: the late series. London: Tate Publishing.
Schama, S. (2006) Simon Schama’s Power of Art. London: BBC Books.
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/mark-rothko-1875
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-rothko-mark.htm
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/dec/12/mark-rothko-red-william-boyd