Not Color, But Measures
In the 1950s, Mark Rothko painted with striking color. Eye catching, heart throbbing, delicious color. Then in the 1960s, his paintings shifted toward neutrals and darker tones. I have been told, and you may have heard, that this shift from bright colors to somber tones came from a descent into depression and eventual suicide. While this perspective may seem like the only conclusion, especially considering his struggles with depression, there is another explanation.
Gifford Phillips, founder of the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, asked Mark Rothko, “Am I right...color means more to you than any other element?” To which Mark Rothko replied, “No, not color, but measures” (Rothko, 53). Rothko wasn’t principally concerned with color. He was concerned with form. He agonized over the measurements of the rectangles in his paintings. And you might ask, “How could someone agonize over rectangles?” Well, how can Apple, who manufacturers computing devices in the shape of rectangles, agonize over their size and form?
[This blog post is an exerpt. You can read the rest of the essay in the book Edible Thistles.]
Additional Resources
Mark Rothko at WikiArt: https://www.wikiart.org/en/mark-rothko
Mark Rothko at SFMOMA: https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/Mark_Rothko/