Mark Rothko, Untitled (1960)

Mark Rothko, Untitled (1960)

As readers of this site are already familiar with my favourite piece of art it should come as no surprise to you that I really appreciate the Rothko work shown above. Rothko refused to explain his work leaving us with one of art’s great mysteries. The UK Times is asking us what we think of this piece and what we think it represents. While you ponder those questions, have a look at some quotes by Mark Rothko:

“I am not an abstract painter. I am not interested in the relationship between form and color. The only thing I care about is the expression of man’s basic emotions: tragedy, ecstasy, destiny.”

“The role of the artist, of course, has always been that of image-maker. Different times require different images. Today when our aspirations have been reduced to a desperate attempt to escape from evil, and times are out of joint, our obsessive, subterranean and pictographic images are the expression of the neurosis which is our reality. To my mind certain so-called abstraction is not abstraction at all. On the contrary, it is the realism of our time. “

“Since my pictures are large, colorful and unframed, and since museum walls are usually immense and formidable, there is the danger that the pictures relate themselves as decorative areas to the walls. This would be a distortion of their meaning, since the pictures are intimate and intense, and are the opposite of what is decorative.”

All-Time Favourite Pieces of Art

Here is my favourite all-time piece of art:

Piet Mondriaan
Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow

Painted in 1930
Oil on Canvas, 20 1/8″ x 20 1/8″

Piet Mondriaan (1872-1944) was a Dutch painter who coined the term “Neo-Plasticism” to refer to his use of vertical and horizontal black lines combined with three primary colours. This particular work is my favourite since the paiting is completely linear yet abstract at the same time. I had seen Mondriaan’s work previously at the Guggenheim, but I could never fully grasp it until I overheard a remark by someone explaining that the work is simply Mondriaan expressing what his thinking patterns look like. In short, the image represents his brain function in a visual form. Nevertheless, I need a reproduction of this piece on my wall :)

What are your favourite pieces of visual art? Hit the comment link below and tell us.