The Power of Art

This documentary was recommended to me by the brother of a former player of mine who is now going to school to become an art professor.

I am on my third episode, and it is quite excellent.

I couldn't help but leap ahead on the 8 hour series to the final installment on one of my favorite artists, Mark Rothko.

Here he is in front of one of his works --



The most interesting thing about Rothko is that he was awarded a deal (which amounted to 2.5 million in our day) to paint a series of paintings for the Seagram building. They were to hang in the Four Seasons restaurant.

Rothko was torn. He rebelled against the upper class elite that the building and restaurant stood for, but he wanted his art to shock them and to remind them what it meant to be a human who struggled and sweat.

Rothko took his wife to dine in the Four Seasons as the completion of his works drew near. He famously concluded after the meal, "Anyone who would pay that kind of money for food like this will never see my art work."

With that, he sent the money back.

After his suicide, Rothko's work finally found a home in the Tate Gallery.

Here's a glimpse. Rothko always maintained that his work needed its own room for its full effect. Each piece builds of the other and offers the viewer an unforgettable experience. Or so I'm told. Maybe one day . . .



Now, some will look at a Rothko and think, "So what? I could paint that."

I don't know about that, but what I like about his work is that it seems to be alive. Every color bleeding or powering into the other (it depends on our perspective) is powerful and demands to be noticed. You don't so much view a Rothko as experience it. I have a poster of one of his works in my classroom. Every once in awhile, I'll glance over my shoulder - as if it's watching me.

Here is one of favorites --