{"id":336,"date":"2015-03-21T15:30:09","date_gmt":"2015-03-21T15:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/?p=336"},"modified":"2021-04-06T15:33:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T15:33:58","slug":"art-as-an-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/art-as-an-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Art as an Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\u00a0\u00bb337&Prime; img_size=\u00a0\u00bblarge\u00a0\u00bb alignment=\u00a0\u00bbcenter\u00a0\u00bb][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #999999;\">MARK ROTHKO\u2019S NO. 36 (BLACK STRIPE)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<style>.ld_spacer_6a91440016c01{height:30px;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"ld-empty-space ld_spacer_6a91440016c01\"><span class=\"liquid_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]With <em>Mark Rothko: Towards the Light in the Chapel<\/em>, I embarked on a 3-week book tour throughout the United States. I decided to emphasize my particular angle &#8211; the social, political and geographical aspects of Rothko\u2019s trajectory and impact. But on the day before my departure, I ran across a press release: \u00ab Rare Mark Rothko Painting Leads Christie\u2019s New York Auction. \u00bb So, on May 13th, <em>No36 (Black Stripe)<\/em>, one of Rothko\u2019s most gorgeous paintings, will be auctioned in New York for a price estimated between 30 and 50 million dollars. This painting is a true ode to the color red &#8211; with dark red, black and red rectangles floating on a red background. Dating from 1958, it epitomizes the most prolific years in the artist\u2019s career when he showed at the great Sidney Janis gallery.<\/p>\n<p>Assessing Rothko\u2019s art through his market value is certainly essential and I am convinced about the strength of his legacy until today. But what about the artist\u2019s constant need to <em>interact<\/em> with the public at large? What about his plea that art become <em>experience <\/em>rather than consumption? What about his search, his anxieties, <em>the counterpoise<\/em> between financial and spiritual values? I tried to grasp those elements in order to shed light on the very unique territory in which the artist agonized his entire life, I alluded to his apprehensions with some unethical dealers. How will the the publication of the book intersect with the auction sale? Wouldn\u2019t such an irony be recalled repeatedly by my interlocutors in the US? Such were my thoughts when I when I boarded the plane from Paris to New York.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Charlie Rose\u2019s interview is like a hurricane<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The next day, the whirlwind of events is already gripping. Charlie Rose\u2019s interview is like a hurricane. He shows a few slides, and asks a ton of questions, reminding me of Bernard Pivot in his glorious years. \u00abWhat\u2019s your next book?\u00bb he asks, and I am off with the feeling that he has managed to get the very best out of me, even despite my jet lag.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/videos\/2015-04-07\/-mark-rothko-charlie-rose-04-07-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/videos\/2015-04-07\/-m&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Marla Prather crafted the conversation beautifully, as the dedicated scholar I had already admired back in 1990, at the National Gallery, during her hanging of a memorable Malevitch show. She explains that the Metropolitan Museum owns a collection of 17 Rothko paintings and, during her introduction, she displays <em>N\u00b03<\/em>, 1953, a work donated by Chicago collector Muriel Kallis Newman in 2006. It is a daunting piece, with its massive red central square floating on a thin basis of red and an even thiner basis of yellow \u2013 a challenge for physicists! In 1954, Marla tells us, Muriel Newman met Rothko in the street and escorted him to his studio. \u00abWhat a beautiful piece!\u00bb, she said in front of this painting. \u00abI just finished it last week,\u00bb he answered. And Newman acquired it on the spot for $600.<\/p>\n<p>With Marla, we decided to present a picture of Mark Rothko and The Irascibles, and to mention the artists\u2019s critique of the institution in 1950, for not showing enough \u00abadvanced American art.\u00bb But during our conversation, we also recalled the unforgettable figure of Henry Geldzahler who, with his famous <em>NY Painting and Sculpture 1940-1970, <\/em>succeeded in gathering for the Met an extensive American art collection. According to Geldzahler, there was no mistaking about the central role he envisioned for the Metropolitan in New York city! The Whitney, he argued, \u201cemphasized perhaps too much the provincial and regional aspects of American art\u201d, MoMA sought \u201cto illustrate art history [with] the world\u2019s finest collection of painting and sculpture of the period from 1870 to 1940\u201d, \u201cthe Jewish Museum \/\u2026\/ could not fulfill the need for timely exhibitions all by itself.\u201d As for \u201cthe Guggenheim Museum, with its excellent collection of nonobjective art, it was among the daily meeting places and discussion centers for the serious artist and student who had to come to grips with Cubism.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]<style>.ld_spacer_6a91440017729{height:30px;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"ld-empty-space ld_spacer_6a91440017729\"><span class=\"liquid_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>[vc_single_image image=\u00a0\u00bb338&Prime; img_size=\u00a0\u00bblarge\u00a0\u00bb alignment=\u00a0\u00bbcenter\u00a0\u00bb][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #999999;\">\u00ab\u00a0I am a man\u00a0\u00bb the legendary demonstration in Memphis, Tennessee, photographer: Richard L. Copley, 1968<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<style>.ld_spacer_6a91440017ac7{height:30px;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"ld-empty-space ld_spacer_6a91440017ac7\"><span class=\"liquid_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\u00ab Why did Rothko adopt such a pure kind of aesthetics ? \u00bb Marla asks me rightly, challenging the contextual approach. I enjoy each of her questions, we\u2019re having fun and the public too. In the audience, I see Christopher Rothko, his sister Kate, the Newman family and many friends as well, such as Christo or Kay Berman who was so close to Henry Geldzahler.<\/p>\n<p>In Washington DC, as early as 1921, Duncan Phillips decided to open his private residence and collection to the public. \u201cInstead of the academic grandeur of marble halls and stairways and miles of chairless spaces\u201d, he wrote, \u201cwe plan to try the effect of domestic architecture, or rooms small or at least livable.\u201d In 1960, he created a special place for his Rothko paintings, as a pause conducive to meditation, that he referred to as \u201ca type of <em>chapel<\/em>.\u201d Today, the Rothko Room, with its worn-out bench, has become a true inspiration for the new works and installations commissioned by the Phillips.<\/p>\n<p>Such is the case for Leo Villareal\u2019s <em>Scramble<\/em>, Wofgang Laib\u2019s <em>Wax Room, <\/em>Bernardi Roig\u2019s <em>The Man of the Light<\/em>, Sugimoto\u2019s <em>Mathematical Model 001<\/em>, and it seems that no other institution has been able to expand Mark Rothko\u2019s concern for <em>art as an experience<\/em> this way.<\/p>\n<p>During our conversation, Klaus Ottmann adds two essential points : Rothko\u2019s interest for the theater, Rothko\u2019s passion for continental philosophy, especially Nietzsche\u2019s. The next day, I spend many hours walking through this inspired place, filled with master pieces by Klee, Bonnard, van Gogh, Matisse, C\u00e9zanne -a model in many ways-, and I almost miss my plane to Dallas ! Just before I fly, I notice William Grimes\u2019s piece in the New York Times\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com\/2015\/03\/12\/with-a-big-sale-looming-a-new-view-of-rothko\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ArtsBeat Blog<\/a>, commenting on the Met conversation with Marla, and his title says it all: \u00abWith a Big Sale Looming, a New View of Rothko\u00bb&#8230;[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]<style>.ld_spacer_6a91440017e51{height:20px;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"ld-empty-space ld_spacer_6a91440017e51\"><span class=\"liquid_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">par <strong>Annie Cohen-Solal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]<style>.ld_spacer_6a91440018256{height:30px;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"ld-empty-space ld_spacer_6a91440018256\"><span class=\"liquid_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With Mark Rothko: Towards the Light in the Chapel, I embarked on a 3-week book tour throughout the United States. I decided to emphasize my particular angle &#8211; the social, political and geographical aspects of Rothko\u2019s trajectory and impact. But on the day before my departure&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":339,"href":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions\/339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniecohensolal.com\/sitev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}