Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
trol this way—over the paint flying in midair and over himself in an ecstatic trance. Paint-
ing becomes a whole-body activity, a “dance” between the artist and his materials.
The intuitive act of creating is what's important, not the final product. The canvas is
only a record of that moment of ecstasy.
Big, Empty Canvases
With all the postwar prosperity, artists could afford bigger canvases. But what reality are
they trying to show?
In the modern world, we find ourselves insignificant specks in a vast and indifferent
universe. Every morning, each of us must confront that big, blank, existential canvas, and
decide how we're going to make our mark on it.
Another influence was the simplicity of Japanese landscape painting. A Zen master
studies and meditates for years to achieve the state of mind in which he can draw one pure
line. These canvases, again, are only a record of that state of enlightenment. (What is the
sound of one brush painting?)
On more familiar ground, postwar painters were following in the footsteps of artists
such as Mondrian. The geometrical forms here reflect the same search for order, but these
artists painted to the musical 5/4 asymmetry of the Dave Brubeck Quartet's jazzy
Take
Five.
Patterns and Textures
Enjoy the lines and colors, but also a new element: texture. Some works have very thick
paint piled on, where you can see the brushstrokes clearly. Some have substances besides
paint applied to the canvas, or the canvas is punctured so the fabric itself (and the hole)
becomes the subject. Artists show their skill by mastering new materials. The canvas is a
tray, serving up a delightful buffet of different substances with interesting colors, patterns,
shapes, and textures.
Mark Rothko (1903-1970)
Rothko makes two-toned rectangles, laid on their sides, that seem to float in a big, vertical
canvas. The edges are blurred, so if you get close enough to let the canvas fill your field of
vision (as Rothko intended), the rectangles appear to rise and sink from the cloudy depths
like answers in a Magic 8 Ball.
Serious students appreciate the subtle differences in color between the rectangles.
Rothko experimented with different bases for the same color and used a single undercoat
(a “wash”) to unify them. His early works are warmer, with brighter reds, yellows, and
oranges; his later works are maroon and brown, approaching black.
