A reproduction is a disservice to any work of art. If you don't stand in front of an Yves Klein painting and slowly see the blue getting vibrant you have not experienced this painting. But we can't be in wonderful museums every day so, alas, reproductions have to do. (And then the shock when you
stand in front of the real thing: the Issenheim altar, the Bellini portrait of the Doge, a Turner.) So if you haven't seen a Rothko painting in front of you you have missed out and should check out where the next Rothko is to seen next to you. Because if you think a reproduction of Blue, Orange,
Red is stark you are in for a surprise when you see the real thing. Rothko attacks the viewer. On a vibrant red background there are three colour fields. Two are blue, one dominating more than half of the painting, one smaller. A third field in orange is to be found below the two blue fields. Thus
Rothko directs our glance downwards but we want to look at the large field again. The paint does not cleanly cover the field, there are zones where the blue is not as clear as in the centre. The effect is of a surreally blue sky with some clouds. The colour draws you in. A Rothko painting is a
bodily experience. It is not about any meaning outside the work but it is about a direct relationship with these fields. Their edges are smudged, they vibrate, they are living entities. The colours clash and wake you up. It is not that you ask what these fields stand for: they ask you what you do
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Here is part one.
https://youtu.be/kTw9RYpRTTs?feature=shared