Rothko Wrap-Up

Okay Crime-Stoppers…I get it…

Yours truly is going on and on about Rothko…how impactful (good word, right?!) his work has been…how the colors vibrate and take you to another dimension….

Gentle Reader: Yeah I’m taking YOU to another dimension if you don’t get to the point.

Eric C Hudson: Well what I am saying is your pal Eric goes on and on about all of this for what like 3 chapters?

GR: 5 actually….feels more like 7

ECH: Anyway, you race out to see a Rothko in person!! And when you get there….

Holy Cow is that an amazing photo by the Author at the Smithsonian?

GR: Wait a minute. What the Sam Hill is THAT? Is that the thing you have been going on about?

ECH: I get it….I get it….

GR: No….for reals…I don’t get it…

ECH: I know, I know…let me explain

GR:That looks kinda lame…kinda super lame actually…

ECH: Yeah??? Well…well…YOUR MOM looks kinda lame!!!!

Ranch the Barbarian courtesy of Adobe Stock

ECH: Hey..ummm..hey…my apologies…that Mom comment was totally uncalled for.

GR: Really??? I hadn’t noticed?????

ECH: I know, I know…not cool..But I made you some pizza rolls…for this next bit…what do you say?

GR: Did you bring Ranch dressing?

ECH: Of course! I’m not a barbarian!

GR: Heh…Ranch the Barbarian…

ECH: Anyway…

Hey 1958! What Up?

So I understand that masterpieces are supposed stand on their own merit…Context be damned. Just look at it hanging on the wall, ooh and ahhhh for a bit and somehow you magically understand why you should even care. Why is this, this thing a big deal at all? I mean for reals.

GR: Context…okay…i think I get it…

ECH: How about this… in 1958 Frank Sinatra was a big deal. Frank Sinatra! Crooner! Moon River and that kind of thing were THE most CRAZY BUSINESS music out there at the time!

Frank_Sinatra_(1957_studio_portrait_close-up).jpg

GR: Ummmm…can I say that’s NOT very Crazy Business

ECH: 1958 Crazy Business Toy: The Hula Hoop! Yeah….like that tube that has beans in it or something that nobody can really get. THAT was the big high tech toy the kids were clamoring for!

GR: Ummmm…again….this is all well and good and all…but…

ECH: 1958 Crazy Business Movie: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof….starring Burl Ives! That guy who plays the snowman on the Rudolph Christmas Special!

GR: Okay, okay…so 1958 was a bit tame on the pop culture front. Nice bunch of white people and all, but everything looks pretty vanilla, middle of the road, that sorta thing…

ECH: Exactly. So around all that vanilla, all that hula hooping and crooning, a painter decided to do some stuff. And love it, hate it, or otherwise, the biggest thing my mind can handle is the “all new” hula hoop.

So remember Daryl? How Rothko’s big yellow canvas kinda fried Daryl’s mind?

Just imagine what Rothko can do with a 1958 Daryl who has never seen the internet, never played video games, never seen amazing monster action movies. This Daryl hasn’t been exposed to most anything culturally we are used to. So for 1958 Daryl? CRAZY BUSINESS! Are you kidding me???

To wrap things up here, as I could just go on…

GR: Oh really??? Tell me more..

ECH: No need to get grumpy GR. I am just sayin….maybe in order to at least understand….maybe appreciate is too much to ask for right out of the gate…but maybe in order to at least understand a bit about Rothko, or present day Daryl, we need to really understand 1958 Daryl. The Frank Sinatra listening, Hula Hooping guy.

The message is the same for present day and 1958 Daryl. The colors vibrating, working, drawing you in….But you may not appreciate the Rothko’s you see, unless maybe you think about when others have seen them before you. They have been demanding attention for decades.

◀️ CHAPTER 4