Rothko; What a Guy

by Jay Carhart, ’21

            Mark Rothko in his painting committed a lot of his talent towards the modernist movement. His painting, Number 18, from 1951 shows some of his talent for abstraction and color choice. The large canvas measures nearly 7 feet tall, featuring one large block of white and one smaller block orange with a line of white, orange and blue through the smaller orange block. The colors blend somewhat on the edges while the white block dominates the lower portion and meets at a hard line with the orange above it. The line through the middle offers the only cold colors, two stripes of bluish black flag the edges of the line, contrasting the rest of the painting.

The presentation of the painting in the museum also influenced how the painting looks. The painting occupies a white wall that it pops out against, covered in natural light from the sunlight in the ceiling. The barrier lining it stops anyone from getting to close, and seems to close off the image. The Rothko looks like it wants to expand outside of the limits of its place on the wall.

            The painting beautifully projects from the wall. The warm colors expand from the canvas, and even though we view boxes and shapes as geometric, cold, and unfeeling, Rothko makes them feel organic and lively. The painting could fill a whole room, and in fact looks a little out of place surrounded by other works. The painting takes time to understand. First looking at Number 18 it does not seem like much, but over time the boxes get brighter, you observe the play between the different colors, and the intricacies of the piece start to reveal themselves. The different blocks of colors start to seep together at their edges. The orange block and the white block meet each other at a firm border, creating an intermediary red that starkly shows the difference between the two parts of the painting. The borders of the canvas seem to want to move outward, the whole painting feels large and imposing, it envelopes you like a large blanket of warm orange. Overall it makes one feel calm, collected and happy. While the geometric shapes feel curt and drastic, the colors and the subtle blending helps to welcome the viewers eyes, making it an incredibly lovely painting to view.