The Power of Art
I love the work of Marc Rothko, so when I found this series of videos done by the BBC and Simon Schama, I had to share them with you. Schama does a whole series on The Power of Art which includes similar discussions on Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, van Gogh, Picasso and Rothko. If you are willing to take these in bits and pieces, which may be a perfect way to view them, they are all on YouTube. I love the way he weaves in art, the artist, culture, business and political history to help explain, indeed, The Power of Art! One of the greatest examples of this, I think might come about in the Picasso series when he speaks of a painting which was covered up at the United Nations before a press conference! I will tell you no more here. We have so much to be greatful for in these artists who went before us, not only in understanding what they went through and what they were trying to share, but also what their struggles mean to what we do today.
I would love to see more of these. Of course, modern art is my personal preference, but we have a lot to learn from all artists – even each other. I am grateful you are willing to share.
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There are 4 Comments to "The Power of Art"
I enjoyed this. Thanks Kim for pointing it out. Interesting that Rothko didnt want to do that commission, or did he in the end? I liked hearing about his ambivalence and the reasons for it.
Suki, I am glad you enjoyed this little clip. There are 6 more parts to this and you can find out what happened with that commission – it is an interesting story to be sure! I think this is a guy you would enjoy reading about his thinking. He was clearly a person who spent a great deal of time in his head and with his heart!
Thanks for posting this, Kim! Aside from the cheesy re-enactments, it looks like it has some great information! I’ll definitely be checking out the rest of this series when I get a chance. I think Rothko had a huge problem with being so successful. His career absolutely skyrocketed, then at his peak, he was brought down by the Pop Artists. It must have been quite a shock and hard to adjust to!
Hello Miranda,
I really loved the information and a lot of the thought processes which were revealed in this video.
You know, Rothko is not the only one during his time who struggled with success! As Suki also reminded me, it was not just painters, either. Consider how Pollock struggled and also went off the deep end at the height of his career (and his success was nothing compared to Rothko during his lifetime), then there were the Beat writers who had such a difficult time, too. They all abused themselves to no end and sadly, shy of de Kooning and maybe a few others, they seemed to meet untimely deaths. Of course Helen Frakenthaler is still living, however she was a few years younger.
It is true, though, we can thank these people who have gone before us and struggled so much! At least now, we have a bit more leverage to be who we need to be!
Thanks Miranda!