Contemporary Art Visual & Performing Arts Essay Paper

Mark Rothko's No. 13 (White, Red on Yellow): Art Appreciation
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation
Mark Rothko created no. 13 (White, Red on Yellow) in 1958. The artist used both oil and acrylic combined with powdered pigments to draw on a canvas. In this painting, Rothko uses the abstract expressionism, a style that became famous in the 1950s. Rothko uses the part of the style, which is characterized by color harmonies, simple forms, and static compositions. Such part of the technique is in contrast to the other form of abstract expressionism, which includes dynamic compositions and energetic brushwork (Lintel & Roos, 2018). In 1950, the author created a compositional format that he later used in all his works. The painting represents a great work of art, as evidenced by the patterns and color. Rothko took an art course, and Weber was his teacher. Weber's students were eager to know more about modernism, and therefore, most people viewed him as an influencer of modern art history. It is through Weber's lessons that Rothko began to view art as a way of expressing an individual's feelings. As a result, most of his paintings in that era, no.13(White, Red on Yellow) being one of them had a lot of influence from Weber
Rothko painted three horizontal bars of different sizes and colors. The bars dominate the vertical canvas and appear to be covering the surface of the picture. Such an effect is a result of the halo. The halo has been created as the horizontal bars overlap the color of the background of the painting. Besides, the effect has been enhanced by the paint's translucency. The paint was diluted to the extent that it stained the canvas's fibers. The edges of the shapes seem ragged, and this is evidence of the kind of brushwork used in its creation. One can easily trace Rothko's hand. As well, the drips of the paint are moving upwards. Such could be an indication that the artist worked on the painting while upside down for a while. On the ages of the different colors, one can easily notice the scales of flatness and deepness as he was creating the painting. The painting was a way of allowing the viewer to experience powerful emotion due to the bright colors used. In the history of painting, bright colors are often used to evoke feelings of happiness, while dark colors represent a mystery. A combination of both bright and dark colors evokes mixed reactions to the viewer, depending on t...