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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Lot 20 is next.

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The Mark Rothko
"Orange, Red, Yellow,"

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The Mark Rothko
"Orange, Red, Yellow,"

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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and $24 million starts.

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$24 million, $25 million,
$26 million, $27 million,

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$28 million, $29 million,
$30 million, $31 million,

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$28 million, $29 million,
$30 million, $31 million,

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$32 million, $33 million,

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$45 million, $53 million,
$56 million...

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$45 million, $53 million,
$56 million...

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Typically for a high-profile lot
that we sell,

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you're looking at two to three
minutes would be sort of

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an average time frame,

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and for the Rothko, the bidding war
lasted for seven minutes,

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and for the Rothko, the bidding war
lasted for seven minutes,

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with over 50 bids made.

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$74 million.
What's that, $75 million?

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$75 million, $77-million-5,
and selling to Brett Spitter.

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$75 million, $77-million-5,
and selling to Brett Spitter.

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Fair warning, all done at
$77,500,000.

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Fair warning, all done at
$77,500,000.

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Brett Spitter at $77-million-5.

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Not only was this sale the world
record for the artist,

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Not only was this sale the world
record for the artist,

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at the time, it was the most
expensive post-war and contemporary

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artwork ever sold in the world.

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artwork ever sold in the world.

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I think he would have been appalled.

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The auction prices now really
reflect a culture in which

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paintings are considered
an investment

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paintings are considered
an investment

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rather than something you really
care about and want to live with.

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He often said, "A painting lives
in the eyes of a sensitive viewer,"

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He often said, "A painting lives
in the eyes of a sensitive viewer,"

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and I think that particular
audience was what he cared about.

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I think Rothko is one of our
great American artists.

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I think Rothko is one of our
great American artists.

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A Rothko is deceptively
simple and yet profound.

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A Rothko is deceptively
simple and yet profound.

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There's nothing simple about
Rothko's work.

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There's nothing simple about
Rothko's work.

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It's actually very complex.

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If you think it is simple,
you should try to do it yourself.

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I think my father really
communicated the seriousness

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I think my father really
communicated the seriousness

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of painting. The painting wasn't
something just to look at.

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It wasn't something that
you appreciated because

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It wasn't something that
you appreciated because

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it appealed simply to the senses.

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I think he wanted the viewer
to look inside themselves

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and see what the painting
brought out in them.

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and see what the painting
brought out in them.

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I've known few people who have sat
in front of Rothko for an hour,

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I've known few people who have sat
in front of Rothko for an hour,

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and it has literally
changed their life.

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Mark Rothko's work opens you up in
ways that you're not expecting.

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Mark Rothko's work opens you up in
ways that you're not expecting.

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I used to think that Rothko
paintings were just these

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I used to think that Rothko
paintings were just these

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easy squares...

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..and the longer I look at
the Rothko paintings,

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the more I see these worlds,

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the more I see these worlds,

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these kind of locations
that he wants us to go to,

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and I like that.
Then it's open, you know?

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What is my experience going to be is
gonna be different than what

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your experience is gonna be,
and both of them are right.

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your experience is gonna be,
and both of them are right.

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It's very unusual that he created
something cohesively.

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It's very unusual that he created
something cohesively.

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A century later,
it can expand into a language

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A century later,
it can expand into a language

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that we didn't know that we needed.

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This chaotic time that we live in,
the angst, the anxiety,

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This chaotic time that we live in,
the angst, the anxiety,

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all of that is given
a framework by Mark Rothko.

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Today is a great time, great context
to revisit a Mark Rothko

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Today is a great time, great context
to revisit a Mark Rothko

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and sit in front of it
for hours and hours.

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and sit in front of it
for hours and hours.

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Well, I've played Mark Rothko on
stage a few hundred times now

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over the years, and I don't think
I'll ever play as deep

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over the years, and I don't think
I'll ever play as deep

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and as complicated a role again.

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and as complicated a role again.

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I think this is-
This is my King Lear.

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L-Look at the tension between
the blocks of colour.

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L-Look at the tension between
the blocks of colour.

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The first thing I connected with
Mark Rothko was the fact that

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he was an immigrant.

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My parents were
immigrants to the UK.

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My parents were
immigrants to the UK.

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I think that particular mind-set of
being taken away from your home

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and going to a new country and
all the issues and problems

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and going to a new country and
all the issues and problems

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that you have to confront with that.

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My father was born in
Dvinsk, which was then a part

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of the Russian Empire.

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Dvinsk was part of the Pale of
Settlement, which was this

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Dvinsk was part of the Pale of
Settlement, which was this

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wide swath of land where Jews
were allowed to live,

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and anti-Semitism was rampant.

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and anti-Semitism was rampant.

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There was an incredible military
presence in Dvinsk.

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There was an incredible military
presence in Dvinsk.

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His brother Moise writes about
the Cossacks running through town

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on horseback and whipping
the townspeople,

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and Mark actually suggests that he
has a scar on his nose

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and Mark actually suggests that he
has a scar on his nose

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that was caused by such a whip.

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My father's father and his two older
brothers were conscripted into

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My father's father and his two older
brothers were conscripted into

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the Tsar's army, and they decided
that they would rather flee than
fight.

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It would have been very unlikely
that they would have seen more than

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It would have been very unlikely
that they would have seen more than

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a couple of winters in the army, so
they decided to emigrate to the U.S.

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My father left Dvinsk in 1913.

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And they came by steamer to the U.S.
and landed at Ellis Island.

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And they came by steamer to the U.S.
and landed at Ellis Island.

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Between 1880 and 1924, 2.5 million
Jews came to the United States

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from Imperial Russia.

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from Imperial Russia.

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They fairly immediately got on
a train to Portland, Oregon.

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They fairly immediately got on
a train to Portland, Oregon.

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There was a relative,
the Weinsteins,

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who had already settled there,

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who had already settled there,

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and therefore it seemed like
a likely place

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for my grandfather
to decide to try to settle.

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"My mother fixed me up with one of
those Buster Brown suits.

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You don't know what it's like to be
a Jewish kid dressed in a suit

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You don't know what it's like to be
a Jewish kid dressed in a suit

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made in Dvinsk,
not an American idea of a suit.

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Traveling across America,
not able to speak a word of English,

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I could never forgive
transplantation to a land

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where I never felt at home."

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Rothko arrives in this country
as Markus Rothkowitz.

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Rothko arrives in this country
as Markus Rothkowitz.

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It's an event that shapes his
being his entire life.

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And within less than a year
of my father's arrival,

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And within less than a year
of my father's arrival,

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my grandfather died,
quite young, of cancer.

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And Mark had to raise money for
the family by selling newspapers.

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And Mark had to raise money for
the family by selling newspapers.

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This was something that
a lot of the immigrant kids did

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and would come home beaten up
because the other guys didn't want

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and would come home beaten up
because the other guys didn't want

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another corner taken up.

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He also got a job in his
uncle's store,

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He also got a job in his
uncle's store,

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the New York Outfitting Company
in downtown Portland.

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Things sometimes got quiet,
and Mark would doodle or draw on

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New York Outfitting wrapping paper.

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His uncle happened to come by one
day and say,

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"Mark, what are you doing?"

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and Mark would show him.

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He says, "Uh-uh, you're not gonna be
able to earn a living that way."

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He says, "Uh-uh, you're not gonna be
able to earn a living that way."

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In high school, Markus Rothkowitz
is a bit of a troublemaker,

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In high school, Markus Rothkowitz
is a bit of a troublemaker,

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moody, intellectual,
politically interested.

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He's very aware of workers' rights,

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He's very aware of workers' rights,

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fair salaries, decent housing,

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and he becomes known
as a mouthy young man.

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and he becomes known
as a mouthy young man.

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Mark Rothko graduated in three years
from Lincoln High School,

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Mark Rothko graduated in three years
from Lincoln High School,

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and there was an article in
"The Oregonian" that noted that

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three young men had gotten full
scholarships to go to Yale
University

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three young men had gotten full
scholarships to go to Yale
University

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from the graduating class
of Lincoln High School.

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The scholarships are withdrawn
the second year because Yale

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wasn't ready to have verbal,
accomplished, politically inclined

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wasn't ready to have verbal,
accomplished, politically inclined

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Jewish students in the middle of
the bastion of WASP culture.

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Jewish students in the middle of
the bastion of WASP culture.

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The second year, he supports himself
by working in a laundry downtown,

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and he works in
a dining hall with all the swells.

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and he works in
a dining hall with all the swells.

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He gets through his second year and
decides that he can't go on,

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and instead of coming home,
he goes to New York.

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and instead of coming home,
he goes to New York.

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In the art scene in New York in
the '20s, it's unimaginably small.

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In the art scene in New York in
the '20s, it's unimaginably small.

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I think everybody knew everybody,
and to study modern art

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in any sense, you really went
to the Art Students League.

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in any sense, you really went
to the Art Students League.

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It's a place where there were open
studios and modelling sessions,

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It's a place where there were open
studios and modelling sessions,

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and artists dropped in and
connected,

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got to know everybody on the scene.

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got to know everybody on the scene.

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"I went to New York to wander
around, bum about, starve a bit.

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"I went to New York to wander
around, bum about, starve a bit.

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Then one day, I wandered
into an art class.

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All the students were
sketching this nude model.

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I thought it was marvellous.

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I thought it was marvellous.

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I was intoxicated by it,

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and right away I decided that was
the life for me."

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I think my father's approach
was really a philosophical one

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when I look back at how he made his
decision to become a visual artist.

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when I look back at how he made his
decision to become a visual artist.

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I think he was really searching
around to look for what medium

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I think he was really searching
around to look for what medium

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he could use to express the ideas
and the emotions he wanted

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to convey to the public.

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My father became very friendly with
Milton Avery, starting in the 1920s,

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which was essential for him
both to have a mentor,

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which was essential for him
both to have a mentor,

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as an artist, someone he could
really look up to and learn from and

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spend time in their studio because
he'd had no experience with that.

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spend time in their studio because
he'd had no experience with that.

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The Averys actually fed him
a great deal when he really had

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barely 2 cents to scrape together
in those early years and

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particularly during the Depression.

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particularly during the Depression.

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I think that if you look at my
father's figurative work from

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that period, you can see a lot of
indebtedness to Avery,

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that period, you can see a lot of
indebtedness to Avery,

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who was painting figurative
paintings,

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but highly abstracted,
highly stylised,

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not looking to depict
visual reality as we see it,

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not looking to depict
visual reality as we see it,

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but to capture a feeling and
emotion of time and place.

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There are hundreds of early
figurative works by my father,

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There are hundreds of early
figurative works by my father,

231
00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:44,280
both on canvas and on paper.

232
00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:01,160
His first paintings, that we know of
are from those early years,

233
00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:04,000
were not terribly promising.

234
00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:04,160
were not terribly promising.

235
00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,160
He doesn't seem to have a lot of
facility right out of the gate.

236
00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,000
He sticks with it for some reason,
and it's a long career with

237
00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:13,480
He sticks with it for some reason,
and it's a long career with

238
00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:17,400
wonderful twists and
turns until he...

239
00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,000
he becomes Rothko, until he finds
himself, you could say.

240
00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:21,520
he becomes Rothko, until he finds
himself, you could say.

241
00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:28,000
In the summer of 1933,
Mark and his new wife, Edith,

242
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,640
In the summer of 1933,
Mark and his new wife, Edith,

243
00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:36,000
hitchhiked across the country
to visit with family in Portland.

244
00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:36,480
hitchhiked across the country
to visit with family in Portland.

245
00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,440
And where did they stay?
Not with his mother, no.

246
00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:42,360
With his sister? No.

247
00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,000
They camped in the West Hills,
somewhere in the West Hills,

248
00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,280
They camped in the West Hills,
somewhere in the West Hills,

249
00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:51,200
overlooking the Willamette
to the east side.

250
00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:52,000
While they were up there,
Mark painted the landscape.

251
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,400
While they were up there,
Mark painted the landscape.

252
00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,000
We saw an east side that had trees,
and he gave these very sweet

253
00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,080
We saw an east side that had trees,
and he gave these very sweet

254
00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:05,680
watercolour paintings
to members of the family.

255
00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:08,000
My family thought he was a little
crazy sleeping out on the hillside

256
00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:13,320
My family thought he was a little
crazy sleeping out on the hillside

257
00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,000
and hitchhiking across the country.

258
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:17,320
and hitchhiking across the country.

259
00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:24,000
Whenever they came,
I would have a brunch.

260
00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,200
Whenever they came,
I would have a brunch.

261
00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:30,840
We had a deck outside of the house,
and I'd gather all the family

262
00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:32,000
that I could, and it was just
a nice warm gathering.

263
00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,480
that I could, and it was just
a nice warm gathering.

264
00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:40,000
I think my father's family never
quite understood this whole idea

265
00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,040
I think my father's family never
quite understood this whole idea

266
00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:45,680
of being an artist or certainly
what his artwork was about,

267
00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:47,920
and yet he remained very
close to them.

268
00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:48,000
They were central to his life.

269
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:49,960
They were central to his life.

270
00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:56,000
That's my father, Moise.
This is Albert,

271
00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:01,920
That's my father, Moise.
This is Albert,

272
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:03,520
and this is Mark.

273
00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:10,200
I felt very close to him, even
though I didn't see him very often

274
00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:12,000
because he lived in New York,
but I used to write letters to him.

275
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,400
because he lived in New York,
but I used to write letters to him.

276
00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:25,400
My mother used to complain
that he never sent home any money.

277
00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:28,000
But he was a poor starving artist.

278
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,120
But he was a poor starving artist.

279
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,760
My father's brothers were far more
practical than he was,

280
00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:36,000
and they went on to pursue careers
as pharmacists,

281
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,760
and they went on to pursue careers
as pharmacists,

282
00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,480
which was the family business
for a few generations,

283
00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,000
and they were sometimes resentful
that the youngest child went off

284
00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:45,280
and they were sometimes resentful
that the youngest child went off

285
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,360
in pursuing this crazy career as an
artist when he had a mother to
support.

286
00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:52,000
Part of the family used
to make fun of his paintings.

287
00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,120
Part of the family used
to make fun of his paintings.

288
00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:58,680
His eldest sister honestly said to
him at that time,

289
00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:00,000
"I don't understand a thing
about your art.

290
00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:01,440
"I don't understand a thing
about your art.

291
00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,120
Mark, paint me a picture
that I can understand."

292
00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,000
So, as a dutiful brother,
he did paint her a picture

293
00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:09,040
So, as a dutiful brother,
he did paint her a picture

294
00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,880
that she could understand,
a small picture.

295
00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:20,160
It's always been remarkable to me
that for the first 25 or 30 years

296
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,760
of his career, my father
created so much artwork,

297
00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:24,000
but it was all done nights
and weekends

298
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:25,400
but it was all done nights
and weekends

299
00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:27,480
because he had a day job
as a teacher,

300
00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:30,960
and he was selling
essentially zero paintings.

301
00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:32,000
I think he must have questioned many
times whether making art was

302
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,960
I think he must have questioned many
times whether making art was

303
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:39,000
going to be the answer to what
he was gonna do with his life.

304
00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:40,000
We believe he struggled with
depression, from everything

305
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,880
We believe he struggled with
depression, from everything

306
00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:45,560
we can piece together,
in the very early 1940s.

307
00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,000
We know he had a period,
really at least a year,

308
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:48,440
We know he had a period,
really at least a year,

309
00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:50,120
when he did not really paint.

310
00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:54,640
We also know at that time that his
first marriage was not going well.

311
00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:56,000
She viewed herself as
a jewellery maker, as an artist.

312
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,040
She viewed herself as
a jewellery maker, as an artist.

313
00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:01,360
I don't think my father really
considered her an artist,

314
00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,000
and I think that was actually a
source of a fair amount of tension

315
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:05,800
and I think that was actually a
source of a fair amount of tension

316
00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:07,080
between the two of them.

317
00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:10,760
She wanted him to help her with her
arts, and she felt she was

318
00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:12,000
the one who was supporting the
family, and he was set in pursuing

319
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,040
the one who was supporting the
family, and he was set in pursuing

320
00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:15,760
exactly what he was doing.

321
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,520
So I think it was a tumultuous
relationship,

322
00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:20,000
but his level of depression seems
to have gone beyond

323
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,760
but his level of depression seems
to have gone beyond

324
00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,960
just being a reaction
to what was going on around him.

325
00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:52,000
Well, in the late '30s, my father
was working on a series of

326
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:55,400
Well, in the late '30s, my father
was working on a series of

327
00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:57,880
paintings related to
the New York subway.

328
00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:00,000
It's a very strange and lonely scene
in many ways, and, you know,

329
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:05,360
It's a very strange and lonely scene
in many ways, and, you know,

330
00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,000
that may reflect how he felt.

331
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:08,040
that may reflect how he felt.

332
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,160
In one way, New York was treating
him well, but in another way,

333
00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,600
it was a place where he was really
struggling at the time.

334
00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:23,400
They are very moving and
disturbing images.

335
00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:29,520
Figures almost hiding between and
behind the columns,

336
00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:32,000
very elongated, emaciated.

337
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:32,440
very elongated, emaciated.

338
00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,640
There's a sense of maybe
being in a catacomb.

339
00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:40,000
And you can see almost the
geometric configurations

340
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,200
And you can see almost the
geometric configurations

341
00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:42,840
that he's looking at
and playing with,

342
00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:47,000
that he will be doing in a purely
abstract way 15 years later or so.

343
00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,720
What we do here at the
National Gallery, we're caring for

344
00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:12,000
handmade objects that have ended
up here in Washington, D.C.

345
00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,280
handmade objects that have ended
up here in Washington, D.C.

346
00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:19,640
This incredibly rare treasured
collection is ours to learn about,

347
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:20,000
to study, and to take care of.

348
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:21,560
to study, and to take care of.

349
00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:27,080
The challenge of working with
masterpieces is that they're
irreplaceable.

350
00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:28,000
There's a lot of responsibility on
the conservator making right
decisions,

351
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,600
There's a lot of responsibility on
the conservator making right
decisions,

352
00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:33,440
using the right materials.

353
00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:36,000
The picture I'm working on today is
a late picture of a Rothko,

354
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:38,000
The picture I'm working on today is
a late picture of a Rothko,

355
00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:39,680
late 1969.

356
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:44,000
Picture sustained a few impact
cracks from the reverse,

357
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:44,480
Picture sustained a few impact
cracks from the reverse,

358
00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:48,000
so the canvas was flexed and
the slightly more brittle paint

359
00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:49,600
on the surface cracked.

360
00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,000
The cracks have slightly raised,
and you can begin to see the white

361
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:52,920
The cracks have slightly raised,
and you can begin to see the white

362
00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:55,800
ground below this dark black paint.

363
00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:08,000
What I am doing is just flowing
the right black colour

364
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:08,400
What I am doing is just flowing
the right black colour

365
00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:10,680
into these cracks...

366
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,000
..so that you don't see them
any more. The cracks just-

367
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:16,200
..so that you don't see them
any more. The cracks just-

368
00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:20,080
I mean, they haven't physically
closed, but you no longer see

369
00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:22,560
the white of a crack.

370
00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:27,360
Reversibility is a key tenant of
modern conservation,

371
00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,760
with the idea being that everything
we do can be safely undone.

372
00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:32,000
So if you apply retouching for
a loss, you want that material

373
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:37,080
So if you apply retouching for
a loss, you want that material

374
00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:40,000
to be very soluble 50 years from now
if somebody ever needs to remove it.

375
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:41,040
to be very soluble 50 years from now
if somebody ever needs to remove it.

376
00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:46,280
A lot of what we do is, if you can
get a picture to present well

377
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,000
in the gallery so that your eye
keeps moving across the surface

378
00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:48,840
in the gallery so that your eye
keeps moving across the surface

379
00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,320
and doesn't stop,
you've accomplished a lot.

380
00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:54,080
You've probably accomplished
all you need to do.

381
00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,920
Pretty much by the mid-'40s,
Rothko evolved a way of painting

382
00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:04,000
with very, very thin paint layers.

383
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:05,280
with very, very thin paint layers.

384
00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:09,640
He stretches cotton duck canvas, and
he seals it with rabbit-skin glue,

385
00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:12,000
but he pigments the glue first,

386
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:12,120
but he pigments the glue first,

387
00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:14,200
and then on top of
that coloured layer,

388
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,520
then he'll work with very, very thin
layers of oil paint,

389
00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,000
very thin layers of handmade paints,
where he's mixing pigment

390
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:21,280
very thin layers of handmade paints,
where he's mixing pigment

391
00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:25,160
in damar resin or
he's mixing pigment in eggs.

392
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:28,000
If you look at any Rothko very
carefully, you'll start to see

393
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,120
If you look at any Rothko very
carefully, you'll start to see

394
00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:33,920
variations in matte and gloss,
variations in opacity,

395
00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,000
and these all had to do with how
he changes media.

396
00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:37,200
and these all had to do with how
he changes media.

397
00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:43,440
I think the layering
creates an aura about them.

398
00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:44,000
I think they enticed us
visually to enter them.

399
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,600
I think they enticed us
visually to enter them.

400
00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,000
The oil surface can almost push you
away, the viewer,

401
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:52,600
The oil surface can almost push you
away, the viewer,

402
00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:55,880
whereas these layers that
incorporate different materials

403
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,320
invite you in because some are shiny
and some are not and some are

404
00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:00,000
moving and some are not,
and it's a...

405
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:01,080
moving and some are not,
and it's a...

406
00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:04,840
It's a much more engaging surface
than something that's just flat.

407
00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:08,000
For me, the best thing about working
on Rothko is having developed

408
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,520
For me, the best thing about working
on Rothko is having developed

409
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:14,000
this connection over many,
many years, things I've worked on,

410
00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,000
things I've instructed
fellows and interns on.

411
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:16,680
things I've instructed
fellows and interns on.

412
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:21,440
He's a very special painter to me.

413
00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,000
Rothko changed his name in 1940
because of an offhand comment

414
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,640
Rothko changed his name in 1940
because of an offhand comment

415
00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:39,480
by his dealer, who observed that
she had too many Jewish artists,

416
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:40,000
and she couldn't offer him a show,
and he realised that he could solve

417
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:44,600
and she couldn't offer him a show,
and he realised that he could solve

418
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:48,000
this problem by shortening his name
to Mark Rothko, American citizen.

419
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:49,480
this problem by shortening his name
to Mark Rothko, American citizen.

420
00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:56,000
My father and an
Adolph Gottlieb began to work on

421
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:56,040
My father and an
Adolph Gottlieb began to work on

422
00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:00,560
a series of paintings which were
highly influenced by Greek myth.

423
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,040
Whereas traditional American
painting wanted to create the

424
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:12,000
sense of depth, the space of
the real world on the canvas,

425
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,400
sense of depth, the space of
the real world on the canvas,

426
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,960
Rothko and Gottlieb abandoned that,
and they, in very modern,

427
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,320
contemporary voice,
create a flat picture.

428
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:41,680
In 1943, there's a major exhibition
in which Adolph Gottlieb and

429
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:44,000
Mark Rothko participate.

430
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:45,040
Mark Rothko participate.

431
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:49,960
It is the first foray by
the modern painters of New York.

432
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,000
It is a gauntlet thrown down against
the establishment of American art.

433
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:56,000
It is a gauntlet thrown down against
the establishment of American art.

434
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,680
It's reviewed in "The New York
Times" by Edward Jewell,

435
00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:00,000
a conservative art critic,
who pans the exhibition,

436
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,760
a conservative art critic,
who pans the exhibition,

437
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:08,000
who finds in these fledgling
modernists the immigrant voice,

438
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:08,200
who finds in these fledgling
modernists the immigrant voice,

439
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,960
the non-American voice,
and he's very critical.

440
00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:16,000
Rothko and Gottlieb write a letter
to "The New York Times,"

441
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:16,440
Rothko and Gottlieb write a letter
to "The New York Times,"

442
00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:18,720
which has now gone down in
history because it's really

443
00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,440
a manifesto and it's not
just a complaint.

444
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:24,000
"We salute this honest, we might say
cordial, reaction to towards

445
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,760
"We salute this honest, we might say
cordial, reaction to towards

446
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,880
our obscure paintings,

447
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:32,000
and we appreciate the gracious
opportunity that is being offered us

448
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:33,320
and we appreciate the gracious
opportunity that is being offered us

449
00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:35,160
to present our views.

450
00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:38,400
We do not intend to defend
our pictures.

451
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:40,000
They make their own defence."

452
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:40,320
They make their own defence."

453
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,120
"Times" publishes the whole thing,
and midway through,

454
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,000
they articulate these five points.

455
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:48,560
they articulate these five points.

456
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:54,080
Number one, "To us art is an
adventure into an unknown world,

457
00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:56,000
which can be explored only by
those willing to take the risks."

458
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:57,880
which can be explored only by
those willing to take the risks."

459
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,840
Number two, "The world of
the imagination is fancy-free

460
00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:04,000
and violently opposed
to common sense."

461
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:04,920
and violently opposed
to common sense."

462
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:10,600
Three, "It is our function as
artists to make the spectator

463
00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:12,000
see the world our way, not his way."
Hmm.

464
00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,640
see the world our way, not his way."
Hmm.

465
00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:20,000
Number four, "We are for flat forms
because they destroy illusion

466
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:20,520
Number four, "We are for flat forms
because they destroy illusion

467
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:22,040
and reveal truth."

468
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:24,720
Number five.
"There is no such thing..."

469
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:26,920
"as good painting about nothing."

470
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:28,000
"We assert that the subject
is crucial..."

471
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:29,560
"We assert that the subject
is crucial..."

472
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,240
"which is tragic and timeless."

473
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:34,480
"Sincerely yours,
Adolph Gottlieb..."

474
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:36,000
"and Markus Rothko."

475
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:36,720
"and Markus Rothko."

476
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:37,920
It's wonderful.

477
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,000
I think it tells a lot about that
particular time that it was written.

478
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:45,560
I think it tells a lot about that
particular time that it was written.

479
00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:51,040
It introduces language which will
become the common language of

480
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:52,000
art studios in New York.

481
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:52,880
art studios in New York.

482
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:57,680
They were breaking away from
a tradition, and in so doing,

483
00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:00,000
you almost have to destroy the
tradition you're breaking away from.

484
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:01,520
you almost have to destroy the
tradition you're breaking away from.

485
00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:07,480
It makes perfect sense to me that
they would feel the way they did

486
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:08,000
because they were striking out,
doing something new and different.

487
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,440
because they were striking out,
doing something new and different.

488
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,160
They knew it, too.

489
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:16,000
In the mid- to late 1940s in
New York, there was a new artistic

490
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:16,360
In the mid- to late 1940s in
New York, there was a new artistic

491
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,080
movement emerging that was
uniquely American,

492
00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:21,800
and it came to be known
as abstract expressionism.

493
00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:24,000
A group of artists that included
Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning,

494
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,520
A group of artists that included
Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning,

495
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:31,080
Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell,
Clyfford Still,

496
00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:32,000
along with Rothko and Gottlieb,

497
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:33,040
along with Rothko and Gottlieb,

498
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:37,520
and they were experimenting with
the voice and the look of art.

499
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,000
Before this time, American painters,
they travelled to Europe,

500
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,240
Before this time, American painters,
they travelled to Europe,

501
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,640
then they went home, and nobody
really heard of them again.

502
00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,000
Right after World War Il,
all of that changes.

503
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:49,720
Right after World War Il,
all of that changes.

504
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:56,000
I think the abstract expressionists
were interested in big ideas,

505
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:56,960
I think the abstract expressionists
were interested in big ideas,

506
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:03,000
big concepts based in human energy
and human response.

507
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:04,000
They launched into the abstraction.

508
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:05,640
They launched into the abstraction.

509
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:12,000
You're standing in front of a colour
or standing in front of an abstract
form

510
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:12,360
You're standing in front of a colour
or standing in front of an abstract
form

511
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,280
and standing in front
of large paintings, I mean,

512
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:17,760
very large paintings.

513
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,000
I mean, it was just such
a huge achievement or a challenge,

514
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,080
I mean, it was just such
a huge achievement or a challenge,

515
00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:24,320
excitement to paint
something that large.

516
00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:28,000
And this is the great moment for
Rothko in which the physical act

517
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:29,880
And this is the great moment for
Rothko in which the physical act

518
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:35,000
of painting becomes the picture
the viewer experiences,

519
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:41,680
floating colour, wiping it,
re-layering it to discover

520
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,000
the elegance of reflected
light and colour.

521
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:44,760
the elegance of reflected
light and colour.

522
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:51,480
These painters are the talk of
the world, and, in some sense,

523
00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:52,000
the centre of the art world shifts
from Europe,

524
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,640
the centre of the art world shifts
from Europe,

525
00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:59,520
from Paris in particular,
to the U.S. and to New York.

526
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,080
It's a huge moment that we're-
We're still dealing with.

527
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:18,560
In the mid-1940s,

528
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,880
my father moves into his first
purely abstracted style,

529
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:24,000
which has come to be known
as the Multiforms.

530
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:24,360
which has come to be known
as the Multiforms.

531
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,000
I believe my father in some way
began to feel that the human figure

532
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:33,640
I believe my father in some way
began to feel that the human figure

533
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:38,480
interfered with his ability
to directly connect with his viewer.

534
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:46,560
"It was with the utmost reluctance
that I found the figure could not

535
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:48,000
serve my purposes, but a time
came when none of us could use

536
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,760
serve my purposes, but a time
came when none of us could use

537
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,240
the figure without mutilating it."

538
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:56,000
There were a lot of ideas that
he was playing out with the
Multiforms,

539
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,640
There were a lot of ideas that
he was playing out with the
Multiforms,

540
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:01,760
and I feel a certain exuberance,
in a refined way.

541
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,000
I mean, I don't think he was
an exuberant person,

542
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:04,320
I mean, I don't think he was
an exuberant person,

543
00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:07,640
but I-I feel a sense of excitement
in them, that he...

544
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:10,880
he was getting into something
that was beginning to work.

545
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,320
There's a technical term
called Nihonga,

546
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,480
which is Japanese-style painting.

547
00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:44,000
Feel the paintings done on paper,
stretched over canvas,

548
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,880
Feel the paintings done on paper,
stretched over canvas,

549
00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:52,000
starts with 80 to 100 layers of very
thin mineral pigments,

550
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:52,800
starts with 80 to 100 layers of very
thin mineral pigments,

551
00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,120
just to get it started,

552
00:29:55,160 --> 00:30:00,000
and, yes, I am directly
quoting Rothko when I'm layering.

553
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:00,480
and, yes, I am directly
quoting Rothko when I'm layering.

554
00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:05,200
I think he would have loved
the material of Nihonga.

555
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:13,960
It is slow art and slow work,

556
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,000
but I think part of the layering is

557
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:16,680
but I think part of the layering is

558
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:20,080
to capture that sense of
time in the layers.

559
00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:29,560
Mark Rothko not only painted in
layers, but he thought in layers.

560
00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,000
It's very clear from his writings.

561
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:32,240
It's very clear from his writings.

562
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:38,280
He was able to integrate and even
construct a way

563
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:40,000
the colour fields work,

564
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:41,120
the colour fields work,

565
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:45,720
and these layers work
in very subtle ways that

566
00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:48,000
allow for a new world to open up.

567
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:49,000
allow for a new world to open up.

568
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:52,520
Just magical to me.

569
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:56,000
That doesn't make sense,
but that's what you experience.

570
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:56,760
That doesn't make sense,
but that's what you experience.

571
00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:01,040
Mark Rothko painted the abyss...

572
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,000
..and he's inviting us to stand on
that abyss.

573
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,440
..and he's inviting us to stand on
that abyss.

574
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:12,000
Now, you can say that is
a despair-filled experience,

575
00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:15,760
but I think it's also
an invitation to hope.

576
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,000
I don't mean this sentimental
feeling of hope,

577
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:21,560
I don't mean this sentimental
feeling of hope,

578
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:27,360
but I mean that it makes me want to
go into my studio and paint,

579
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:28,000
and that is my act of hope.

580
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,600
and that is my act of hope.

581
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:44,000
My father met my mother shortly
after his first marriage ended.

582
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,840
My father met my mother shortly
after his first marriage ended.

583
00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:58,120
Well, this photo, it's actually one
of the few pictures I have

584
00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:00,000
as a baby with my father,

585
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:01,160
as a baby with my father,

586
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,400
and there he certainly looks like
a pretty doting father.

587
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,000
Maybe even at the age of 47, 48,
he enjoyed having one of his own

588
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,480
Maybe even at the age of 47, 48,
he enjoyed having one of his own

589
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:14,040
instead of just teaching children.

590
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:20,560
I would consider my father
a very concerned father,

591
00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:23,320
certainly a very loving
and involved father.

592
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,480
In some ways, he is my vision of
the classical father,

593
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:31,560
who was gone 9:00 to 6:00 and,
you know, came home for dinner

594
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:32,000
and spent a little time with me
in the evening.

595
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,320
and spent a little time with me
in the evening.

596
00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:40,000
Some of my fondest memories are
actually Sunday mornings with him.

597
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:40,080
Some of my fondest memories are
actually Sunday mornings with him.

598
00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:48,000
My primary memories of them are
sitting in bed, reading the paper,

599
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:48,840
My primary memories of them are
sitting in bed, reading the paper,

600
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:52,560
always smoking, always smoking,

601
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:55,560
and their sheets had multiple,
multiple cigarette burns

602
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:56,000
and holes in them.

603
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:56,960
and holes in them.

604
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,520
It's just- It's, like, that's
literally burned into my memory.

605
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:18,840
In 1949, Rothko develops the style
that will make him one of

606
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:20,000
the most recognised artists
of the 20th century.

607
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:22,280
the most recognised artists
of the 20th century.

608
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:34,480
He finds a format where he can make
full and direct expression

609
00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:36,000
of the ideas he's wanted to
express for so long.

610
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:37,600
of the ideas he's wanted to
express for so long.

611
00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:44,000
For me, the excitement in '49 to '50
are the way he celebrates the edge.

612
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:45,120
For me, the excitement in '49 to '50
are the way he celebrates the edge.

613
00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:55,040
Colour blocks come together,

614
00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:57,640
and they begin to sit in
relationship to each other.

615
00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:00,000
It is that gap between in which
the magic begins to develop.

616
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,280
It is that gap between in which
the magic begins to develop.

617
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:08,000
There's a turning point in your life
that you can just mark and say,

618
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,080
There's a turning point in your life
that you can just mark and say,

619
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:15,960
"This is when I found my voice,"
voice that is a destination

620
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,040
of everything that
you've done in the past,

621
00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:22,120
and that is a fertile place
for an artist.

622
00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:31,400
He was always in self-doubt mode,

623
00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:32,000
always struggled with his own
internal voice.

624
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,440
always struggled with his own
internal voice.

625
00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:40,000
So when Rothko found his style,

626
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:40,080
So when Rothko found his style,

627
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:44,400
he settled in that place of
belonging.

628
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:48,000
It represented the penultimate
expression of that thing that Rothko

629
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,480
It represented the penultimate
expression of that thing that Rothko

630
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:54,280
had looked for his entire life.

631
00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:56,000
He found a place to live
and celebrate

632
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,680
He found a place to live
and celebrate

633
00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:01,160
and a vehicle for his anguish.

634
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:17,040
My father and Pollock and de Kooning
and Motherwell quickly become

635
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:20,000
household names through articles in
places like Life Magazine.

636
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:20,840
household names through articles in
places like Life Magazine.

637
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,000
Suddenly, these were the wunderkinds
at age 50 of the art world.

638
00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:34,640
By the '50s, when Rothko hits his
stride, he starts to sell.

639
00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:36,000
Betty Parsons Gallery represents
him, and she does a series of

640
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,000
Betty Parsons Gallery represents
him, and she does a series of

641
00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:42,400
five shows, each of them more
and more successful.

642
00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:47,520
I was walking up to my house last
week, and a couple was passing.

643
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:49,680
The lady looks inside my window
and says,

644
00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:52,000
"Ooh, I wonder who owns
all those Rothkos."

645
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:52,320
"Ooh, I wonder who owns
all those Rothkos."

646
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:58,720
Just like that, I've become a
noun... a Rothko.

647
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:00,000
A commodity.
An overmantel.A what?

648
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:01,520
A commodity.
An overmantel.A what?

649
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:04,800
The overmantels, you know, those
paintings doomed to become

650
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,000
mere decoration over the fireplace
in the fancy-schmancy penthouse.

651
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:09,080
mere decoration over the fireplace
in the fancy-schmancy penthouse.

652
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,880
Oh, they say to you, "I need
something to work with the sofa."

653
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:13,080
You understand?

654
00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:16,000
"Something bright and cheery for the
breakfast nook, which is orange.

655
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:16,200
"Something bright and cheery for the
breakfast nook, which is orange.

656
00:36:16,240 --> 00:36:20,160
You got something in orange or
burnt umber or seafoam green?

657
00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:22,240
Here's a paint chip from
the Sherwin-Williams.

658
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:24,000
Oh, and can you chop it down
to fit the sideboard?"

659
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:25,000
Oh, and can you chop it down
to fit the sideboard?"

660
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:39,400
In 1958, the Seagram's Corporation
finished constructing

661
00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:40,000
an amazing modernist building on
Park Avenue,

662
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,040
an amazing modernist building on
Park Avenue,

663
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:45,920
and within this modernist
masterpiece,

664
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:47,720
there's going to be
a beating heart

665
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:48,000
and it's gonna be a restaurant
called The Four Seasons.

666
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,120
and it's gonna be a restaurant
called The Four Seasons.

667
00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:55,360
And architect Philip Johnson went to
Mark Rothko and said,

668
00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:56,000
"Why don't you create a series of
murals that could go in our dining
room?"

669
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,200
"Why don't you create a series of
murals that could go in our dining
room?"

670
00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:04,000
The commission was $35,000,
and in 1958,

671
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:05,000
The commission was $35,000,
and in 1958,

672
00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:06,560
that was a huge amount of money,

673
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:09,440
reputed to be the most an artist had
ever been paid in America

674
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:12,000
for a series of works.
My first murals.

675
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:12,160
for a series of works.
My first murals.

676
00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:16,920
Imagine a frieze all around the
room, a continuous narrative filling

677
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,000
the walls one to another,
each a new chapter,

678
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:20,200
the walls one to another,
each a new chapter,

679
00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:21,760
the story unfolding.

680
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:26,760
You look, and they are there,
inescapable and inexorable.

681
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:28,000
I mean, of all the patrons who could
have approached Mark Rothko,

682
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:31,200
I mean, of all the patrons who could
have approached Mark Rothko,

683
00:37:31,240 --> 00:37:35,280
Philip Johnson was unique because
he was a provocative voice

684
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:36,000
in American design and American art,
and Rothko admired him greatly.

685
00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:39,960
in American design and American art,
and Rothko admired him greatly.

686
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:43,280
So for him, it was the perfect
combination of voices

687
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:44,000
creating modern art.

688
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:44,720
creating modern art.

689
00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:58,360
The Seagram paintings,

690
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:00,000
they're an artist experimenting with
much less colour.

691
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,040
they're an artist experimenting with
much less colour.

692
00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:13,240
This is an enormous challenge
for an artist to take on,

693
00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:15,800
an artist that's known primarily
for colour.

694
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:19,080
He's doing something very different,

695
00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:21,760
and I think they must have
been very hard for him.

696
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:28,720
There is some question about what
he was told, what he understood

697
00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:31,600
about what the nature of that
restaurant was going to be.

698
00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:32,000
His story was that he would be
painting for an employees' dining
room and,

699
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,640
His story was that he would be
painting for an employees' dining
room and,

700
00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:38,760
as an old Socialist,
that made him feel, you know,

701
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:40,000
reasonably comfortable, but I think
he may have known more than that.

702
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:44,800
reasonably comfortable, but I think
he may have known more than that.

703
00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:48,000
In the fall of 1959, they were
invited to dinner at the restaurant,

704
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:52,720
In the fall of 1959, they were
invited to dinner at the restaurant,

705
00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:56,000
which since then had been completed,
but I remember their coming home.

706
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:57,840
which since then had been completed,
but I remember their coming home.

707
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:03,320
My father was so upset by his visit
to the restaurant

708
00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:04,000
that he came in yelling, you know,
that he was absolutely going to

709
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:07,080
that he came in yelling, you know,
that he was absolutely going to

710
00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:10,960
withdraw from this, and I'm sure my
mother was trying to calm him down.

711
00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:15,080
Philip? This is Rothko.

712
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:20,000
Listen, I went to the restaurant
last night, and let me tell you,

713
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:20,920
Listen, I went to the restaurant
last night, and let me tell you,

714
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:24,520
anyone who eats that kind of
food for that kind of money

715
00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:28,000
in that kind of joint will never
look at a painting of mine.

716
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:28,480
in that kind of joint will never
look at a painting of mine.

717
00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,960
Now, I-I-I'm sending the money back,
and I'm keeping the pictures.

718
00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:37,760
Ye... No offence.

719
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:42,600
Yeah, well, this is the way it goes.
Good luck to you, buddy.

720
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:44,000
I think there must have been
a liberation in that call,

721
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:45,840
I think there must have been
a liberation in that call,

722
00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:49,520
in realising it was the truest
version of himself.

723
00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:56,920
My father was nothing if not
principled, and ultimately he cared

724
00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:00,000
more about the well-being of his
artwork and the expressive message

725
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:01,360
more about the well-being of his
artwork and the expressive message

726
00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,880
that he was trying to bring
than the prestige of having

727
00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:08,000
the Seagram commission and even the
$35,000, which he sorely needed.

728
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:09,280
the Seagram commission and even the
$35,000, which he sorely needed.

729
00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:15,200
And so those murals, which he had
laboured on for months

730
00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:16,000
and started again and rebuilt
just went into storage.

731
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,960
and started again and rebuilt
just went into storage.

732
00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:22,560
They effectively were hidden.

733
00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:30,160
I think the Seagram mural process
helped define Rothko

734
00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:31,520
as an individual.

735
00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:38,040
It comes back to his questioning,
his politics, and his reality

736
00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:40,000
as an artist,
the artist as underdog,

737
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:40,520
as an artist,
the artist as underdog,

738
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:44,760
as thorn in the side of society,
as observer.

739
00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:12,000
In 1964, my father was commissioned
by the de Menil family of Houston

740
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:16,160
In 1964, my father was commissioned
by the de Menil family of Houston

741
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:18,640
to create what was then
going to be a Catholic chapel

742
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:20,000
on the University of St. Thomas
campus in Houston.

743
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:22,600
on the University of St. Thomas
campus in Houston.

744
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:26,760
I think my father felt that
John and Dominique really understood

745
00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:28,000
his seriousness as an artist and

746
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:29,240
his seriousness as an artist and

747
00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:33,160
the deeper meaning or the deeper
content behind his paintings.

748
00:41:40,720 --> 00:41:44,000
"The magnitude on every level of
experience and meaning of the task

749
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:45,160
"The magnitude on every level of
experience and meaning of the task

750
00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:49,800
in which you have involved me
exceeds all my preconceptions,

751
00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:52,000
and it is teaching me to extend
myself beyond what I thought

752
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:53,200
and it is teaching me to extend
myself beyond what I thought

753
00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:54,800
was possible for me.

754
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:58,120
For this, I thank you."

755
00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:08,000
It must have been a huge
compliment to him.

756
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:10,560
It must have been a huge
compliment to him.

757
00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:16,000
Not only, in this case, was he given
a space as he was at the Seagram's,

758
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:16,080
Not only, in this case, was he given
a space as he was at the Seagram's,

759
00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:21,000
here he had an opportunity for
the space and the paintings

760
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:24,000
to work together, to take the works
of art to another dimension.

761
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:25,440
to work together, to take the works
of art to another dimension.

762
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:29,680
In order to create this space,

763
00:42:29,720 --> 00:42:32,000
he found a carriage house on
69th Street in New York.

764
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,840
he found a carriage house on
69th Street in New York.

765
00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:39,280
It allowed him to re-create
three walls of the chapel.

766
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:47,440
I frequently saw him sitting and
agonising about the paintings,

767
00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:48,000
and I mean down to the inch,
down to every layering of paint,

768
00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:53,400
and I mean down to the inch,
down to every layering of paint,

769
00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:56,000
the exact heights of
the different panels.

770
00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:56,560
the exact heights of
the different panels.

771
00:42:57,760 --> 00:43:02,120
I visited my father in the studio
many times as a child,

772
00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:04,000
and although I never saw him paint,
because he really did not

773
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:05,400
and although I never saw him paint,
because he really did not

774
00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:06,840
like people to watch him paint -

775
00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:08,800
it was really a solitary
journey for him -

776
00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:12,000
he set up long rolls of paper for
me to paint on and was very
encouraging,

777
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:13,960
he set up long rolls of paper for
me to paint on and was very
encouraging,

778
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:16,520
and I was just thrilled to be in
that space

779
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:18,560
and spending time with him.

780
00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:20,000
I remember his warmth and his
enthusiasm about me being there
with him.

781
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:23,280
I remember his warmth and his
enthusiasm about me being there
with him.

782
00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:28,000
The Rothko Chapel is very
much dark paintings.

783
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,480
The Rothko Chapel is very
much dark paintings.

784
00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:35,120
An urban legend is that he painted
these paintings 'cause he was
so depressed.

785
00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:36,000
They were a sign,
an omen of his upcoming death.

786
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:38,120
They were a sign,
an omen of his upcoming death.

787
00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:47,160
I don't think it was that at all.

788
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:52,000
I look at it that it was a natural
progression of where he was going.

789
00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:52,840
I look at it that it was a natural
progression of where he was going.

790
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:55,920
He had done so much with colour.

791
00:43:55,960 --> 00:43:59,800
He was a master of colour and its
ability to affect the viewer.

792
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:05,400
His next step was to take
the challenge to eliminate it.

793
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:07,080
Could he still make paintings?

794
00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:08,000
Could he still make works of art
that had that effect?

795
00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:10,040
Could he still make works of art
that had that effect?

796
00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:24,000
To enter into Rothko Chapel is

797
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:25,280
To enter into Rothko Chapel is

798
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:29,200
to enter into a person's soul.

799
00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:34,440
It's kind of a Zen experience.

800
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:40,000
To be surrounded by these works...

801
00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:41,720
To be surrounded by these works...

802
00:44:43,680 --> 00:44:48,000
..and feel your way into a painting
rather than seeing them,

803
00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:49,320
..and feel your way into a painting
rather than seeing them,

804
00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:53,720
you can directly go to the emotions,
the feeling,

805
00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:56,000
and that's a contribution that I
think very few artists have ever
reached.

806
00:44:56,000 --> 00:44:59,760
and that's a contribution that I
think very few artists have ever
reached.

807
00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:09,920
The Rothko Chapel remains, I think,
a very difficult space for me.

808
00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:12,000
It's one that I don't walk into
without thinking

809
00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:15,680
It's one that I don't walk into
without thinking

810
00:45:15,720 --> 00:45:17,920
that I'm going to spend
some time there.

811
00:45:19,720 --> 00:45:20,000
The chapel doesn't just invite.

812
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:21,760
The chapel doesn't just invite.

813
00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:24,760
It really demands the viewer
to spend time

814
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:26,920
and think about the big questions.

815
00:45:29,720 --> 00:45:34,960
I like being in the chapel because I
like the sense of being with self,

816
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:36,000
and it's really a remarkable
sensation to go in the chapel

817
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:38,840
and it's really a remarkable
sensation to go in the chapel

818
00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:44,000
that's quiet and cool and to sit
and to just look at these paintings

819
00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:44,360
that's quiet and cool and to sit
and to just look at these paintings

820
00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:47,920
and to see the daylight moving
through it.

821
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:49,720
They're not individual paintings.

822
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:52,000
The work of art is
the entire experience.

823
00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:52,760
The work of art is
the entire experience.

824
00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:55,000
It's the space. It's the light.

825
00:45:55,040 --> 00:45:56,640
It's the paintings.

826
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:00,000
It's a wonderful experience.
I encourage everyone to do it.

827
00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:03,440
It's a wonderful experience.
I encourage everyone to do it.

828
00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:16,000
Rothko finishes the chapel murals
in 1967, and they go into storage.

829
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:20,560
Rothko finishes the chapel murals
in 1967, and they go into storage.

830
00:46:20,600 --> 00:46:23,600
The chapel won't open until 1971.

831
00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:31,320
It was a moment at which he had
completed the most important work

832
00:46:31,360 --> 00:46:32,000
of his life, in his mind,
and then in April 1968,

833
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:37,040
of his life, in his mind,
and then in April 1968,

834
00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:40,000
he suffers a dissecting
aortic aneurysm.

835
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:41,560
he suffers a dissecting
aortic aneurysm.

836
00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:45,000
It is one of the most serious things
that can happen to you,

837
00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:47,680
short of a heart attack or stroke.

838
00:46:47,720 --> 00:46:48,000
And for the next year and a half,
he struggles.

839
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:51,600
And for the next year and a half,
he struggles.

840
00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:54,480
His doctor doesn't want
him to work on canvas.

841
00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:56,000
Physically, he can't lift his
arms over 40 degrees.

842
00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:57,720
Physically, he can't lift his
arms over 40 degrees.

843
00:46:57,760 --> 00:47:00,880
It's actually a small
miracle that he survived this

844
00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:03,160
because it was a significant-
It was a large rupture.

845
00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:04,000
Only mode of treatment was to lower
the blood pressure fairly extremely,

846
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:08,800
Only mode of treatment was to lower
the blood pressure fairly extremely,

847
00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:12,000
and I think, you know,
that not only exhausted him, but,

848
00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:13,240
and I think, you know,
that not only exhausted him, but,

849
00:47:13,280 --> 00:47:17,080
you know, may have contributed in
itself to his depression, as well.

850
00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:23,720
After that time,

851
00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:28,000
he really was limited in what
he could do with his paintings.

852
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:28,600
he really was limited in what
he could do with his paintings.

853
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:34,480
However, it's interesting because
that was perhaps his...

854
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:36,000
One of his most prolific six to
eight months of his entire career.

855
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:39,640
One of his most prolific six to
eight months of his entire career.

856
00:47:40,680 --> 00:47:43,800
He starts what have become known as
the Black on Gray canvases,

857
00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:44,000
as well as a series of ambitious
large-scale works on paper.

858
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:47,360
as well as a series of ambitious
large-scale works on paper.

859
00:47:48,560 --> 00:47:52,000
And then, surprisingly, a group of
large papers in pastels,

860
00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:53,960
And then, surprisingly, a group of
large papers in pastels,

861
00:47:54,000 --> 00:47:55,840
which is perhaps the most amazing,

862
00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:58,960
a real departure
also from what he had ever done.

863
00:48:02,160 --> 00:48:05,640
I believe now, looking back,
that he was struggling with

864
00:48:05,680 --> 00:48:07,880
an underlying depressive illness.

865
00:48:07,920 --> 00:48:08,000
Certainly there were
family problems.

866
00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:10,200
Certainly there were
family problems.

867
00:48:10,240 --> 00:48:13,440
He had separated from my mother,
which was difficult.

868
00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:16,000
He was living in the studio, which
must have been a difficult setting,

869
00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:18,080
He was living in the studio, which
must have been a difficult setting,

870
00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:21,400
I think a depressing
setting in a lot of ways.

871
00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:31,240
On February 25, 1970, some time
in the early hours of the morning,

872
00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:32,000
as far as we know,
my father took his own life, um...

873
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:35,480
as far as we know,
my father took his own life, um...

874
00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:40,000
..and he was found the next morning
by a young man who had been

875
00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:42,120
..and he was found the next morning
by a young man who had been

876
00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:46,280
assisting him in the studio during
that period, and, um...

877
00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:53,200
..only subsequently did my mother
come to the studio and see him.

878
00:48:54,880 --> 00:48:56,000
I was surprised, but not as
devastated as when my mother

879
00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:59,680
I was surprised, but not as
devastated as when my mother

880
00:48:59,720 --> 00:49:01,840
told me how it had happened.

881
00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:04,000
My first reaction was that he had
died of something related

882
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:05,280
My first reaction was that he had
died of something related

883
00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:06,680
to his illness.

884
00:49:07,680 --> 00:49:12,000
My father had worked for four years
exclusively on the chapel
commission.

885
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:12,360
My father had worked for four years
exclusively on the chapel
commission.

886
00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:13,840
He did not live to see it.

887
00:49:13,880 --> 00:49:16,360
He died just as construction
was beginning.

888
00:49:16,400 --> 00:49:18,280
So all plans had been completed,

889
00:49:18,320 --> 00:49:20,000
but he never was able to see
the space himself.

890
00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:20,840
but he never was able to see
the space himself.

891
00:49:23,120 --> 00:49:26,520
But he did have the experience of
the mural in his studio,

892
00:49:26,560 --> 00:49:28,000
so he certainly had a sense of it,
and he was very proud of it.

893
00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:29,040
so he certainly had a sense of it,
and he was very proud of it.

894
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:33,840
He had his official portrait taken,
obviously satisfied with them.

895
00:50:03,720 --> 00:50:08,000
People definitely seek out the
Rothko room here at Tate Modern.

896
00:50:08,040 --> 00:50:12,600
I think we can confidently say
that it's seen by millions

897
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:14,320
of people every year.

898
00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:24,000
I think one would like to believe
that there is a sense of

899
00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:25,800
I think one would like to believe
that there is a sense of

900
00:50:25,840 --> 00:50:30,400
the longevity of the artist
through this room.

901
00:50:32,240 --> 00:50:37,960
It did become a space which is in
tune with Rothko's own wishes

902
00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:39,440
about it.

903
00:50:39,480 --> 00:50:40,000
It is a place to decompress and to
think about bigger issues in life.

904
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:45,480
It is a place to decompress and to
think about bigger issues in life.

905
00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:53,880
People are still obsessing about his
work, and his work is still

906
00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:56,000
being analysed and re-evaluated.

907
00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:57,160
being analysed and re-evaluated.

908
00:50:58,160 --> 00:51:00,200
I think he would
have been very happy with that.

909
00:51:00,240 --> 00:51:03,800
I mean, I think the fact that people
are still engaged in a dialogue,

910
00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:04,000
in a relationship with his
work probably the best thing

911
00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:07,000
in a relationship with his
work probably the best thing

912
00:51:07,040 --> 00:51:08,840
any artist could wish for.

913
00:51:13,080 --> 00:51:15,640
Part of what he wanted was

914
00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:19,680
future generations to find his work

915
00:51:19,720 --> 00:51:20,000
so inspiring and challenging.

916
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:22,600
so inspiring and challenging.

917
00:51:32,720 --> 00:51:36,000
And that impossibility of
Mark Rothko is a puzzle

918
00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:38,640
And that impossibility of
Mark Rothko is a puzzle

919
00:51:38,680 --> 00:51:42,440
that I want to be part of,
to open up,

920
00:51:42,480 --> 00:51:44,000
not to solve, but to open up to
the next generation and beyond.

921
00:51:44,000 --> 00:51:46,440
not to solve, but to open up to
the next generation and beyond.

922
00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:56,400
"The most important tool the artist
fashions through constant practice

923
00:51:56,440 --> 00:51:59,320
is the faith in his ability
to produce miracles

924
00:51:59,360 --> 00:52:00,000
when they are needed.

925
00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:00,680
when they are needed.

926
00:52:01,680 --> 00:52:04,760
Pictures must be miraculous."

927
00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:28,760
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