Seagram Murals

[Champagne]

Does anybody know if Mark Rothko's commissioned murals were ever displayed at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York? I know he withdrew from the commission, but was this before or after his murals were displayed?

And has anybody ever truly found out the meaning behind these murals or is it mostly speculation?

[sglazier]

Well you're a dark horse, Champagne - finding you in the Arts section no less. First off, I don't know the answer to your question. But I have been to a few Rothko shows and found myself contemplating his work for hours and feeling a sense of great prescence and deepness in the murals. Other times I have looked and thought - well its just flat paint on the wall. So the question I have is : Is the appreciation of abstract expressionism largely an introspective experience akin to meditation and is the work of these painters a catalyst for discovering our own conciousness? Or what?

[Champagne]

Not a dark horse at all, SG. I've always loved art. So have you a degree in art or anything?

Abstract expressionism is not my favourite, I have to say. I don't see what meditation has to do with it! But I'd probably agree with your latter statement. The canvas is purely a vessel for transferring emotions, but in the case of abstract expressionism this was usually grand scale artwork depicting extreme, and usually negative emotions. Often some of the pieces were not really that abstract, or expressive, but the art is meant to stir something in us. How we choose to interpret it is up to us.

[Champagne]

Hmmm... thanks pickle, but I'm not sure if I fully agree with that excerpt. It sounds more like an art critics review! Plus I know that Rothko did a number of versions of the murals before giving up. He was never fully satisfied with the pieces but that can apply to most artists!  I did a detailed study of these pieces and Rothko's commission but nothing was ever said about whether they reached the restaurant.

The reason behind my question is because I'm intrigued to know what the diners thought of them. Did they really put people off their dining experience which is what Rothko intended.

[Champagne]

Thanks, pickle.

[Solarjunkie]

Prints of these pictures were proudly displayed on the walls of my previous office.

I hated them on first sight, and they never endeared themselves to me at all! It was on mentioning "those awful gloomy pictures" to a friend who had not seen them that he correctly identified them as Rothkos.

So my guess would be that they would upset digestion as much as they bothered me.

[Smiffy]

There is a programme about Rothko and the Seagram murals on BBC2 at 2.00am tomorrow (Saturday) if you're interested.