22 May, 2007

Rothko Record


White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)
81" x 55.5"
Mark Rothko

On May 17th, 2007, this Rothko painting sold at auction for $72.8 Million. That more than doubles the record auction price for a post-war era painting, which was $27.1 Million
(De Kooning, Untiltled XXV, 1977).

Love him or hate him, Rothko is absolutely original in many ways. There is a pleasing unity to his color field paintings that immediately place my thoughts on the colors, the painting and the canvas. The interaction of the colors is attractive, yet remain in the abstract realm-giving no "handle" to hold onto except the experience of looking at the painting right now.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think his work is interesting. Alot of people just comment on it just being colors but there is the opposite of what Jackson Pollocks work did. Jackson's work was like shouting out emotions. This work, really calms you down...makes you take a step back and think to sit, drink tea and relax. Does that make any sense? It's not overly emotional work but it keeps your focus there in a calming sense. I like his work. Couldn't say I LOVE his work but I like it. :)
*HUGS*

Casey Klahn said...

Very valid opinions, my friend.
I like the dichotomy-one artist's "loud" and the other "quiet".
My trouble comes with the art critics/historians who want to describe Abstract Expressionism's two parts as "action painting" and "color field Painting". Doesn't work for me, but I don't want to jump that far ahead yet.

Lloyd Irving Bradbury said...

Every art work is abstract since it is a creation of self. Thru the artists work you look thru his eyes

Anonymous said...

It stuns me that art can be worth so much money. I understand the value of a piece of art to an individual - perhaps every piece has a perfect viewer to go with it. They'd pay a lot to have that art on their walls. But I'm fascinated by the dynamics of famous art - how in the world does it get so high in price? It can't simply be the value of the work itself - the name and history must be tied in. If you or I painted a piece just like this (assuming Rothko's work/style wasn't famous), it wouldn't sell for that. 70 million bucks?!? Wow.

Tina Mammoser said...

TAG! You're It!

I chose your blog for a worldwide game of Artist Tag via blogs. Hope you'll take part. If you click back to my blog you'll find the rules and the other artists I tagged in my latest post.

Wasn't sure of the best post to post this comment to so just went for the most recent, hope that's okay. :)

Cheers,
Tina.

Anonymous said...

I love it. Always have. I love viewing his work in person. It's very meditative. There's usally a bench in the middle of any gallery a Rothko is hung in, just beckoning me to sit and stare for a log time. So I do.

Anonymous said...

This is an awesome and educating blog. I am so happy to have found it.

Please visit mine. I was taught by Abstract Expressionists in college and have recently started painting again.

chewy

Anonymous said...

In my oppinion...I don't really listen to art critics and all that. Only the artist's themselves truely can describe their works. I think..but that is just my personal oppinion. :)
*HUGS*

Casey Klahn said...

Thanks especially to new commenter's:

Ray, Shan, Tina and Chewy.
And Meg and Angela, too!
Glad to meet Tina, who is a Londoner (American expat, actually!).

I'll have to think about the tagged game, since I just did participate-and I am sure that there are not 7 more factoids about me that would be interesting.
And, believe it or not, I try to keep the personal stuff to a minimum, because the scope of this blog is art, rather than the popular type of personal blog.

On the other hand, that tag game increased my readership at just the right time, and I do very much love meeting all the new bloggers!

Abstract Expressionism, Art Criticism, Artists, Colorist Art, Drawing, History, Impressionism, Modern Art, Painting, Pastel, Post Impressionism