ART106A

ASSIGNMENT

ArtistMarkRothko
PaintingsDiscussed
1.
2.
3.
4.

Entrancetosubway(1938)
FourDarksinRed(1958)
Interior(1936)
Untitled(1937)

SubmittedBy
HarshitNyati
160282

 BriefIntroduction

MarkRothkowasanamericanpainterofrussiandescent.Heis
regardedasoneofthegreatestabstractartistsof20thcentury.
Hisentryintothefieldofartisveryinteresting.Hehappenedto
wanderintoanartclass,tomeetafriend,buthewasimpressed
byitanditmotivatedhimtobecomeanartist.InJanuary1924,
RothkoenrolledattheArtStudentsLeague.Hethenstudiedthere
andstruggledinitiallyasanartist,butaftersecondworldwar,his
paintingbecameveryfamous.
Colourbecamedominantandexpressivein1940sandthenit
alsoextendedtorectangularshapes.Thisisallcreditedto
rothkosamazingartworks.Rothkouseddifferenthuesand
coloursaswellasrectangleshapestoexpressemotions.There
are2theoriesbehindhimchoosingrectangularshapes,somesay
thatitdepictedurbanization,howeverhispeersbelievedthathe
wasinspiredfromnature.Hispaintingstyleisveryabstract,stillit
hasdynamicquality,depthanddelicacy.Itislovelyandmentally
soothing.Hiscoloursensewasawesome,hebalancedthem
perfectly.Hisabstractpaintingshavehypnotisingqualityinit,they
haveanabilitytotransformthemoodsofitsviewerinapositive
way.Hisuniquestyleofpaintingdifferentsizesofrectanglesand
slowtransitionbetweenpaintingsmouldsitselffordifferent
viewers,andemotionallyaffectthemandgiveasenseof
smoothnessandcalmness.By1968,Rothkowasinpoorhealth.
Hewasaheavydrinkerandhadsufferedfromananeurysmof

theaorta.Complicatedbyfamilyproblems,yetinthelasttwo
yearsofhislifeheproducedanastonishingbodyofwork.His
oneofthemostfamousworkswasTheRothkoChapelwhichhe
madeinhisdyingyears.Hecommittedsuicidein1970.

1.EntranceToSubway(1938)
StyleExpressionism
TypeOiloncanvas
ThispaintingbyMarkRothkodescribestheinsideofasubway
station.Thispainitinghasdepthinit,andartisthasusedspace
effectively.Intheforeground,itislevelgroundpaintedbrownish.In
themiddleground,therearetwopillars,andbehindthemthere
aretwomorepillarsandastaircase,buttheyhavebeen
beautifullyblendinthepicturebyuseofoverlapping.Two
facelesscharactersaredescendingintotheunderground.The
staircaseissurroundedbyarectangularcagelikegridhaving
verticallineswhichgivesitstillness.Ontheleftsideoftherailing
thereisawallwherehalfadoorisvisible.Inthe
background,therearetwoswingdoorsandaboothwithaman
inside.Twomenappeartobewaitinginfrontofthebooth.Butitis
anasymmetricalpainting.
Useofverticallocationandoverlappingisdonetoshowdepth.
Recessioninheightofpillarsisdonetoshowdepthandlinear
onepointperspectiveisusedbutvanishingpointisnotdistinctly
visible.Itisanaturalisticpainting.Thereisnodiscrepancyin
scale,everythingseemsnormalasappearsasfrontviewseenby
nakedeye.

Thereisanimpliedlinewhichjoinsbaseofthepillars.Thereare
psychiclinesbetween2peopledescendingthestaircaseand
bottomofthestaircase(whichisnotshowninthepaintingand
leftforviewersimagination).Useofhorizontalandverticalline
givesstillnesstothesubwaystation.WhereastheHazyfaces
andnoclearlinesaroundthemgivesdynamicqualitytopeople
movingonthestaircase.
Itisaperfectmixofbothcontourandgesturelines,thestationary
thingsareshownbycontourlineswhereasgesturelinesdefine
dynamicelementsi.e.people.
Itismultichromaticpainting,whichgivesitvarietyandavoids
monotonicity.Useofwarm(brown)andcold(blue)colourinthe
pillarsgivescontrasttoit.Alsouseoflightbackgroundcolourin
thewallhighlightsthemiddleground.Aswellasartisthad
plannedtoshowapartofbackgroundasactivepartofthe
painting,sohedeliberatelyusedreddishwarmcolourinit.Also
darkcoloursignifiesthatthereissomeartificiallightsource
presentthere.Souseof2verywidevaluedcoloursinthe
backgroundgivesexcitementtotheimageanditalsogoeshand
inhandwiththethematicimportanceoftheimage.
AlsotherearesomesignsofNandaboardwithsome
advertisementwhichgivesemioticvaluetoit.Oncarefullyseeing
theimage,onecanclearlynoticethatthefaceofonlyperson
clearlyvisibleisthatonbookingcounter.thisissymbolictothe
ideathatheisstilltherewhereasothersarejusttemporary
visitors.
Asitwasatimeofgreatdepression,rothkouseddullcoloursin
thewallsandforegroundtoreflecthismoodthathefeltisolated

duetoharshsocialandeconomicconditionsduringthatperiod.
Thereforeartistusesitasaexpressiontoshowhisfeelings.
Inconclusion,itisagreatpaintinghavingallthevaluesand
elementsnecessarytojustifyitsthematicimportance.

2.FourDarksinRed(1958)
Style:AbstractExpressionism
Type:Oiloncanvas
ItwaspartofamovementinitiatedbyRothkohimselftobringart
totwodimensionspace.Andratherthanintroducing
technicality,complexityandweirdnesstoattractviewer,makeit
verysimple,calm,lovely,smoothtomakeoneemotionallyattach
itselftoart.hefirsttimeintroducedtheconceptofmeditationby
visuals.Thiswasindeedagreatideaandrefreshingforthe
viewers.
Thisappearstobeverysimpleandabstractpainting.Thereare
fourrectangularstripsofdifferentwidthandslightlydifferent
colours.itstartsfromdarkredinthebottomandthenitsvalue
changesineachsuccessivelayer.ithasvariousshadeslike
darkred,crimsonred,orange,blackandonefinallybrown.
Thelayersseemstobedrawnbyathickbrushandhavebold
appearance.
Hehasnotusedanyclearoutlinesforthepaintingsbutthefour
layersseemsseparated.
Astheobserverstaresattheareasofcolour,theyseemtomove
andvibrate,thiscreatesanopticalillusionfortheviewerandhe

ispleasedbycalmmotionoftheimage(whichisactuallyhis
perception).
Howeverthispaintingseemsplainandvague,buttheartisthas
putlotofinputtuanalysethevalueofcoloursandfittedthemin
suchamannerthatitbecomesanopticalillusionwhichisvery
peacefultothemindsofitsviewers.

3.Interior(1936)
Style:Expressionism
Genre:Interior

Thispaintingmostlyapperas2Dduetoextensiveuseof
horizontalandverticallines.Hereithasnotmuchdepthandits
mostimportantaspectissymmetrywhichmakesthepainting
visuallysatisfactory.Itisnaturalistic.Overlappingisusedtoshow
threesoldiers.Therearetwosculpturesonextremeleftand
right.Smallerscaleisusedinthepaintinginsideframe.Restallof
themhavenormalscale.Thereisanimpliedlinewhichconnects

thesculpturesonlevelground.Ithasgridlikeformationwhich
givesanarrangedpattern.Linesaremostlycontourandclearly
demarcatesboundaries.Butinthesculpturesthosearegesture
linesandkindofhazy.Useofgridlinesinsculpturesgiveseffect
oflightandshadowthusmakesit3dimensional.Thoughpainting
isarrangedverysymmetrically,butartisthasbrilliantlyavoided
anymundaneaspectbymakingitmultichromaticandgiving
differentelementscoloursofverydifferentvaluesthusalsogiving
varietytopicture.
Thedazzlingbrightcolouroftheframedoesntletthepicture
insideitloseitsimportancealthoughitisinbackground.Thedark
meherooncolouronthetopandgreeninthebottomclearly
demarcatesboundarybetweentopandbottomandgivecontrast
astheyareofdifferentvalue.
Designofframeisalsouniqueandprovidesvariety.Useof
texturetogivedynamicquality.
Itseemsfromthepaintingthatsoldiersaregettingreadytogofor
awaranduseofsculpturesandsomeverybravefigureisdone
togivethemmotivationandcouragetofight.Soitisa
expressionistpainting.


4.Untitled(1937)

Thispaintingfollowsthestyleofsurrealismbecauseitseemsthat
thereddressedwomaniscomingoutoftheframeofa2Dframe
anditgivesit3Deffect,whichisnotpossibleinreality.Another
wayofseeingitasarealwindowandherbodyisbent
backwards,thereforetwodifferentperspectiveofseeingadds
surrealvaluetothefigure.
Figureisasymmetricandforeshorteningisdoneinthehandsof
theladyattheback.Thereisanamplifiedperspectiveinred
dressedladytointroducedramaticdynamicquality.Unusualview

createsexcitementinviewer.Thereisnodiscrepancyinscale,it
seemsnormal.

Thediagonallinesintheframesuggestsmotionandindicate
movementinaratherstillpicture.Butthemostexcitingpartofthe
imagewhichattractsviewersattentionisthepsychicline
between
bothladies,whichmaintainstheharmonyofimageandavoidsthe
redladytogooutofframeandcontext.
Backgroundisquitedullascomparedtoforegroundwhichhasa
sharpredcolour,butitisaconventionalimagewhereartistwants
aplainbackground,sothatobserverfocusesonthemainpart
only.Monochromicbackgroundgivesitunityandisincontrast
withtheforeground.
Overallthispictureshowsthatasbothofthemareholdinghands
ofeachother,theyareveryconnectedtoeachother.Soartist
hasveryefficientlyportrayedtheirconnectionthroughaptuseof
visualelements.

ThankYou.