Mark Rothko's impressive color-block painting titled "Orange and Lilac Over Ivory" (1953) (298.5 x 232.4 cm) dominates the second floor foyer of the Hood Museum of Art. As an excellent example of Abstract Expressionism, it is a must-see for anyone interested in contemporary art.
Born in Lithuania in 1903, Marcus Rothkowitz immigrated to the United States as a child. He was instrumental in defining the New York School of artists who became known as the Abstract Expressionists.
Rothko and his contemporaries relied on personal experience and interior feelings to create their canvases. Their works were like a scratch pad for the workings and patterns of the mind.
Rothko worked as a figure artist until the mid-1930s, when he began painting the abstract color planes for which he is most famous.
While a certain degree of similarity pervades many of his color-block works, the subtle nuances of paint and atmospheric glow that emerge from Rothko's canvases make the viewing of every Rothko painting an intimate, unique experience.
In the piece from the Hood collection, a block of orange rests on top a rectangle of lilac. The orange and lilac blocks stand against a grayish yellow background.
When one first looks at a Rothko, the design can seem basic and straightforward to the point of being boring. But it is overly simplistic to dismiss his work as a kindergarten study of color and shape.
When one looks closer, the numerous washes of color separate into a confusing and stimulating array of blues and purples, drips and scrubbed out areas.
Suddenly the lilac block possesses great detail. Its subtle changes of hue hint at a design or image hidden underneath washes of color.
Look at the canvas from various angles. In certain lights, the paint glows softly, mysteriously. From other angles, the canvas feels flat and the paint looks matte, scrubbed away of its shine.
This continual changing of feeling and form gives the painting a vitality and intrigue that can capture a viewer's attention for long stretches of time.
Is there a recognizable image lurking in the paint? Each viewer must decide that question for himself.
Those viewers who look for a recognizable image in a Rothko painting may be disappointed. When Rothko was asked to explain his work, he typically refused to elaborate on their meaning.
"The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them," Rothko stated in an anthology of interviews with modern artists. "And if you ... are moved only by their color relationships, then you miss the point."
Rothko offers his viewer a point of embarkation between the physical world and the interior space of the mind, where one can be introspective and contemplative.
A long visit with a Rothko painting is like stepping out of the banalities of one's daily routine. It is a license to let the mind wander and meditate on the possibilities beneath the surface of the paint.
The Hood Museum acquired "Orange and Lilac over Ivory" through the generous donation of William S. Rubin.
