Rothko. wtf? I don't get it

sandrapinchedmysandwich · 2025-05-03T14:27:21+00:00

I must be some sort of philistine but was reading on the news about a Rothko painting that was sadly damaged in Rotterdam recently by a child. Then I saw the art which to me is blobs of paint on a black background. Apparently this is worth 50 million pounds. I know art means different things to different peoole, but really? Does anyone on here see anything else?

PermanentTemporary · 12/05/2025 21:50

I love going to see art, especially since DH worked as an artist for a while - seeing him making art made me look at everything differently. And seeing Rothkos and Pollocks at the Royal Academy with DH in 2017 was amazing. We both cried. He was so ill then but he was determined to see them. I hate the thought of them being damaged.

On the other hand I don't get dance at all. I see that it's pretty or athletic but it doesn't move me at all. We're all different. I wouldn't hack at a ballerina's ankles.

CarrotVan · 12/05/2025 21:41

But Andy Warhol and Roy Liechtenstein do nothing for me.

CarrotVan · 12/05/2025 21:40

The Rothko room at the Tate Modern is outstanding. His work has extraordinary depth of colour and texture that can’t be reproduced as a flat image.

the only painting that has had a similar visceral impact for me is this one (which is tiny in comparison but has the most amazing light)

www.nationalgallery.ie/art-and-artists/highlights-collection/landscape-rest-flight-egypt-rembrandt-van-rijn-1606-1669

LlynTegid · 12/05/2025 21:26

Rothko paintings have to be seen in person to appreciate them fully.

SabrinaThwaite · 12/05/2025 21:15

ConstantlyFuriosa · 12/05/2025 19:48

I’m also like this with Pollock. Just looking at No 1 now and can feel the tears building!

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Hay fever is a bugger, isn’t it?

ConstantlyFuriosa · 12/05/2025 19:48

Boopear · 03/05/2025 18:36

Rothkos are the only paintings (and his colour block paintings not the early ones) that trigger any sort of emotional reaction in me. Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate other art, but the Rothkos just make me want to cry. I really have no idea why but I love them. They are magical.

I’m also like this with Pollock. Just looking at No 1 now and can feel the tears building!

ShockedandStunnedRepeatedly · 05/05/2025 10:50

I doubt Rothko would lose sleep over Cosycover‘s opinion 🤣

We are all different !

Charlize43 · 05/05/2025 10:49

Cosycover · 04/05/2025 20:51

Had to Google it but its honestly laughable how shit they are. There is a patch of wall in my kitchen right now that looks like one as I'm picking a new paint colour.

That's because you are just picking a new paint colour for your kitchen wall, whereas Mark Rothko spent a lifetime working with art before arriving at a new way of seeing (colour field painting) in 1949. Historically, he was breaking new ground and progressing art.

Colour field painting deals with the relationship between colours when placed next to each other and well as the emotions they elicit. Optically, they will advance, recede, vibrate, etc; make you happy, sad, alert, etc Kandinsky & Matisse had also explored this earlier, but Rothko took it much further. If you want a more, in-depth analysis, I suggest you read up before just dismissing it as 'shit.'

Bridestone · 05/05/2025 09:58

Dunkou · 03/05/2025 20:19

I’m not really moved by Rothkos. I paint, and have a couple of degrees in Fine Art so do have appreciation for art. I don’t find them particularly skilled and I’m not surprised that PP says that the forgeries are difficult to tell apart from real Rothkos.

I can see that they would have had a big impact though back when they were first painted as they weren’t like other art, plus their sheer scale is impressive.

But forgeries are often difficult to tell apart from originals anyway! Look at the career of Han van Meegeren. It’s often not a matter of technique, but technical analysis of pigments or craquelure, that confirms a fake.

GammonAndEgg · 05/05/2025 09:42

I had a really strong emotional reaction to seeing ‘The Snail’ by Matisse. I walked around a corner and there it was - BAM! I could have looked at it for days.
I have no idea what it was about it. The sheer size and colour maybe.

DuesToTheDirt · 05/05/2025 09:36

I think it also helps if there are seats and you can just sit and gaze, rather than wandering past.

SabrinaThwaite · 04/05/2025 21:11

BriceNobeslovesMurielHeslop · 03/05/2025 22:20

I’ve been to the Rothko chapel in Houston twice and it both times it was an incredible experience. I also find them strangely emotional, in the chapel the daylight through the windows alters the feeling of the room.

I think Rothko is fabulous but it definitely can’t translate through a print or photograph.

I’ve been there a few times. Nope, not for me. I find it unrelentingly dull and gloomy.

Cosycover · 04/05/2025 20:51

Had to Google it but its honestly laughable how shit they are. There is a patch of wall in my kitchen right now that looks like one as I'm picking a new paint colour.

bge · 04/05/2025 20:26

Rothko’s Black Blue painting (1968) is my favourite painting. It makes me so emotional. I’d love to see it in person

JoanOgden · 04/05/2025 19:39

ShockedandStunnedRepeatedly · 03/05/2025 22:13

I can see that might have happened. But feelings are part of human experience and not all are positive - that art could provoke such a strong reaction is proof of its power… no?

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Oh yes I entirely agree! Very much proof of their power as artworks.

ExquisiteSocialSkills · 04/05/2025 09:35

I love Rothko. I was looking at one in Tate Modern a few weeks ago. It’s not just ‘stripes’ in my opinion but then I am unmoved by some things that other people love.

swimsong · 04/05/2025 09:30

Valeriekat · 04/05/2025 00:29

I felt exactly the same and you have put it so beautifully.

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Thanks, It's unfortunate that I was typing in the pub and reading this morning there are so many mistakes! 😅

Valeriekat · 04/05/2025 00:29

swimsong · 03/05/2025 22:23

I didn't really get it seeing them in pictures - but a visit to the Tate Modern seeing a few full size in a dedicated room totally changed my attitude.Honestly it was almost a religious expirence.its worth reading about how much time he spends on each one - making small changes and then sitting at a distance for a while, days in fact, before making adjustments..I think it's the fact that, for him anyway, he gets them 'just right'. Somelart works you feel you could change bits and it wouldn't affect anything much. But the great pieces, you know anything small part changed would lessen it.

I felt exactly the same and you have put it so beautifully.

Valeriekat · 04/05/2025 00:28

You really must go and look at the ones at the Tate Modern.

swimsong · 03/05/2025 22:23

I didn't really get it seeing them in pictures - but a visit to the Tate Modern seeing a few full size in a dedicated room totally changed my attitude.Honestly it was almost a religious expirence.its worth reading about how much time he spends on each one - making small changes and then sitting at a distance for a while, days in fact, before making adjustments..I think it's the fact that, for him anyway, he gets them 'just right'. Somelart works you feel you could change bits and it wouldn't affect anything much. But the great pieces, you know anything small part changed would lessen it.

BriceNobeslovesMurielHeslop · 03/05/2025 22:20

I’ve been to the Rothko chapel in Houston twice and it both times it was an incredible experience. I also find them strangely emotional, in the chapel the daylight through the windows alters the feeling of the room.

I think Rothko is fabulous but it definitely can’t translate through a print or photograph.

ShockedandStunnedRepeatedly · 03/05/2025 22:13

JoanOgden · 03/05/2025 22:11

I have a bad reaction to Rothko paintings in person. I went to that Tate exhibition and found that sitting in front of them made me feel really hopeless and depressed, like I had been drawn into a dark void. It was quite an odd experience.

I can see that might have happened. But feelings are part of human experience and not all are positive - that art could provoke such a strong reaction is proof of its power… no?

JoanOgden · 03/05/2025 22:11

I have a bad reaction to Rothko paintings in person. I went to that Tate exhibition and found that sitting in front of them made me feel really hopeless and depressed, like I had been drawn into a dark void. It was quite an odd experience.

ShockedandStunnedRepeatedly · 03/05/2025 22:04

corlan · 03/05/2025 18:11

I'm another one that didn't get it until I sat in front of some of his paintings at the Tate Modern. It's a completely different experience. This will sound a bit 'woo', but they seem to shimmer and change a bit when you look at them - almost as if they're emitting light.
I believe there's a church in the USA that has Rothko paintings and people break down in front of them and have spiritual experiences!

This is so true. You had to be there, as it were. They are also IMMENSE. Immersive is the word.

StrawberrySquash · 03/05/2025 22:01

LaurieFairyCake · 03/05/2025 18:06

I thought exactly the same as you until a few weeks ago when I saw the Turner and Rothko room at Tate Britain. Rothko at least as good as Turner, same genre, same expression on the canvas. Unbelievably accomplished. Came away with my new favourite picture, it was so beautiful

You know you aren't supposed to take them home with you, right?