Mark Rothko is much more than a colorist. He is a philosopher of emotion. The colors oppose together like in a composition by Cézanne. No shape is recognizable and the general structure of the abstraction varies relatively little. Each color has its own emotional properties and all of them are accepted.
The blocks are carefully filled. In 1957, the control of his technique is total. The intensity of the hue in each zone is gradual by a painstaking application of matte or glossy pigments in successive veils. The feeling is transmitted by the transition into the gaps. The position of the blue plays a disruptive role that excites the emotion.
On May 10 in New York, Christie's sells No. 17 from 1957, oil on canvas 233 x 177 cm, lot 17 B estimated $ 30M, also known in its subtitle Green on Blue on Blue which indicates by itself the exceptional subtlety of this opus.
The two green areas, or more exactly verdant, of unequal heights occupy the largest part of the surface, positioned over a thin cobalt blue rim. They are separated by a thin azure blue strip which has been entirely framed in a royal blue window.
The catalog reminds the consciousness of Rothko into his own art: "The people who weep before my paintings are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them". Pollock had expressed the soil. With No. 17 of 1957, Rothko communicates with the viewer by using the colors of vegetation and sky in a geometry and proportions that resolutely reject any figurative interpretation.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's.
SOLD for $ 32.6M including premium
The blocks are carefully filled. In 1957, the control of his technique is total. The intensity of the hue in each zone is gradual by a painstaking application of matte or glossy pigments in successive veils. The feeling is transmitted by the transition into the gaps. The position of the blue plays a disruptive role that excites the emotion.
On May 10 in New York, Christie's sells No. 17 from 1957, oil on canvas 233 x 177 cm, lot 17 B estimated $ 30M, also known in its subtitle Green on Blue on Blue which indicates by itself the exceptional subtlety of this opus.
The two green areas, or more exactly verdant, of unequal heights occupy the largest part of the surface, positioned over a thin cobalt blue rim. They are separated by a thin azure blue strip which has been entirely framed in a royal blue window.
The catalog reminds the consciousness of Rothko into his own art: "The people who weep before my paintings are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them". Pollock had expressed the soil. With No. 17 of 1957, Rothko communicates with the viewer by using the colors of vegetation and sky in a geometry and proportions that resolutely reject any figurative interpretation.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's.
SOLD for $ 32.6M including premium
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