Rothko

Yesterday afternoon my mom and I went to the Portland Art Museum to see the Mark Rothko exhibit. It was an amazingly sunny day, which made me feel a little guilty about complaining so much this past week.

Rothko was actually a native Portlander, which makes his work even more brilliant, if you ask me. He later moved to New York City, which is my second favorite place in the world, so his subway paintings are some of my favorites.

  
(this image from: http://www.preview-art.com/previews/02-2012/rothko.html)

I also love his pieces that are big blocks of color. He had an incredible way of using color and blurring the lines just enough that you want to stop and stare and get lost in the paintings. I would love to decorate a whole house in prints of his.


(this image from: http://www.preview-art.com/previews/02-2012/rothko.html) 

I took this terrible picture of this awesome quote of Rothko. (It was in a stairwell, but I still had to take the picture super fast because, you know, no flash is allowed in the museum and, being the technological genius I am, I could not figure out how to turn the flash off my little Cannon pocket-sized camera.)

   

To me, this quote means that Rothko sees his art bridging a gap between he and the people that are privileged to enjoy it. I loved reading this quote because as I stood gazing into the huge canvases of color I thought about how he painted it to communicate himself through color and abstract lines, to bring his "observer" (me) closer to what was in his mind.

But before I get too philosophical, I will just say that we then went and had some great Lebanese food, and then drove home as the sun was setting. I was pleased when the Hawthorne bridge was going up and I was forced to stop my car, turn off the engine, and sit and watch the sunset reflecting off Mt Hood.

All in all, it was a refreshing evening that made me realize once again how much I love this crazy city of ours.

P.S. Did you know that the Portland Art Museum is free every last Friday after five?... Neither did my mom and I; they told us after we paid to get in a little after four. But I would encourage everyone to go see the exhibit... Who are your favorite painters? What kind of art inspires you to decorate?