Hughes on Rothko, Etc.

I took in the Rothko retrospective at the Portland Art Museum this weekend.

It is tough to say this about an artist as esteemed as Rothko, as beloved and valued as he is among modern art critics, but the Latvian kid who grew up in Portland blew it.

His dark vision did indeed not only lead to his suicide, but it also ruined his work.  The canvasses from his late period evoke a deadened spirit and embittered truth simultaneously.

Of course, that is enough for some Art Romantics.  For others it is entirely the point and thus predictable.

I get that, but so what?  In the above video Hughes argued that Rothko's sense of color was "exquisite."   I disagree.  His sense of color resounds with limitations and subterfuge, a wanton desire to sap color out of everything associated with painting.

My feeling is Rothko had run his course.  He had nothing left to offer in the end.  Like a chess player who knew he was beaten, he knocked his King over.

The work says nothing as much as "I am bored and resigned to defeat."

Of course, this comes from a man who happens to think that the graphic artist Buddy Dooley is a genius.  So, you see how subjective and learned my grand pronouncements really are.


TS