It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism.
Mark RothkoRead
Look, it's my misery that I have to paint this kind of painting, it's your misery that you have to love it, and the price of the misery is thirteen hundred and fifty dollars.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the pain and complexity of artistic creation, as well as the burden of the audience's interpretation and value of the art.
Mark Rothko highlights the dual nature of art as both a personal struggle and a shared experience. The artist conveys his own anguish in creating the artwork, while also pointing out that the viewer's emotional connection to it can be equally challenging. The mention of a monetary price underscores the commercialization of art and raises questions about the value we place on emotional experiences through art.
In practice
This quote can be used in an art class to discuss the emotional aspects of art.
It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism.
We favor the simple expression of the complex thought. We are for the large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal. We wish to reassert the picture plane. We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth.
The artist invites the spectator to take a journey within the realm of the canvas... Without taking the journey, the spectator has really missed the essential experience of the picture.
The fact that people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions.. the people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when painting them. And if you say you are moved only by their color relationships then you miss the point.
If our titles recall the known myths of antiquity, we have used them again because they are the eternal symbols upon which we must fall back to express basic psychological ideas.
Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit, and the only means of making concrete the purpose of its varied quickness and stillness.
Decorating is not about making stage sets, it's not about making pretty pictures for the magazines, it's really about creating a quality of life, a beauty that nourishes the soul.
I don't really know why an idea comes to me. But all of a sudden, an idea comes and from experience I can intuit what something means when an interesting line pops up. Or I can intuit what an interesting choice might be. And I can try a couple of different choices, and see which one feels right, and then continue the song to see where it goes.
There are only 3 colors, 10 digits, and 7 notes; its what we do with them that's important.
For me, music is always the language which permits one to converse with the Beyond.
Without atmosphere a painting is nothing.
Labels need to work with artists to help them achieve their best work, not to jam records out that are half-baked or three-quarters baked.
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