Research Paper on:
Rothko's Use of Color

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
His initial work was very easily understandable in terms of subject matter. His later work, was completely void of subject matter as it presented the viewer with nothing but a  few colors, as little as two colors, and very square or rectangular shapes, often limited to two shapes. In the following paper we look at two of his earlier surrealistic  paintings and then take a look at two of his abstract expressionist paintings. The paintings in the surrealistic period discussed are Gethsemane from 1944 and Sea Fantasy from 1946. The  paintings from the abstract expressionism period are, Untitled from 1949 and No. 2 (No. 7 and No. 2) from 1951. The paper focuses on the use of color in these  paintings. Surreal Paintings In understanding the painting titled Gethsemane (1944) we must take into consideration that Rothko was finding the Old and New Testaments to be a very powerful  source of inspiration for his work. The title of this piece "refers to the garden near Jerusalem that was the scene of the agony and betrayal of Christ. In a  radio broadcast Rothko" was asked the following question: "Are not these pictures really abstract paintings with literary titles?" (Mark Rothko). His answer was as follows: "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. They are the symbols  of mans primitive fears and motivations, no matter in which land or what time, changing only in detail but never in substance" (Mark Rothko). It becomes quite obvious, when  reading his remarks and looking at the painting, that he is trying to transmit some form of symbolism that is perhaps universal and does not need explanation, something seen very