It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism.
Mark RothkoRead
Look, it's my misery that I have to paint this kind of painting, it's your misery that you have to love it, and the price of the misery is thirteen hundred and fifty dollars.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the pain and complexity of artistic creation, as well as the burden of the audience's interpretation and value of the art.
Mark Rothko highlights the dual nature of art as both a personal struggle and a shared experience. The artist conveys his own anguish in creating the artwork, while also pointing out that the viewer's emotional connection to it can be equally challenging. The mention of a monetary price underscores the commercialization of art and raises questions about the value we place on emotional experiences through art.
Themes
ArtMiseryEmotionValueExperience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in an art class to discuss the emotional aspects of art.
More from Mark Rothko
All quotes →We favor the simple expression of the complex thought. We are for the large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal. We wish to reassert the picture plane. We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth.
Mark RothkoRead
The artist invites the spectator to take a journey within the realm of the canvas... Without taking the journey, the spectator has really missed the essential experience of the picture.
Mark RothkoRead
The fact that people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions.. the people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when painting them. And if you say you are moved only by their color relationships then you miss the point.
Mark RothkoRead
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.
Mark RothkoRead
Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit, and the only means of making concrete the purpose of its varied quickness and stillness.
Mark RothkoRead
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