It was a statement published by Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman (Abstract Expressionist artists) and Adolf Gottlieb (an art critic).
Mark Rothko struggled to find a way to express emotion in painting, and finally came to the conclusion that the best way to do so was to eliminate form, which clouded the meanings of the work. He didn't want people to focus on titles or formal images, but wanted people to focus on the emotions one would get when looking at a work of art. Thus, simplicity destroys illusion and reveals truth, and "we favor the simple expression of the complex thought."
Today, people take advantage of Abstract Expressionism. What the audience has to understand is that the history of art was always about achieving the perfect form a la Greek/Roman/Renaissance art. The study of anatomy, proportion, and perspective was always more important than subject matter. So Abstract Expressionist artists like Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Barnett Newman took a huge risk in eliminating forms in the 1950s.
"It is our function as artists to make the spectator to see the world our way, not his way" is a big screw you to the conformists of art who believed art should be pretty and something that represents nature, or the real world. Because, obviously, that wasn't the point of Abstract Expressionism.
It was a statement published by Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman (Abstract Expressionist artists) and Adolf Gottlieb (an art critic).
Mark Rothko struggled to find a way to express emotion in painting, and finally came to the conclusion that the best way to do so was to eliminate form, which clouded the meanings of the work. He didn't want people to focus on titles or formal images, but wanted people to focus on the emotions one would get when looking at a work of art. Thus, simplicity destroys illusion and reveals truth, and "we favor the simple expression of the complex thought."
Today, people take advantage of Abstract Expressionism. What the audience has to understand is that the history of art was always about achieving the perfect form a la Greek/Roman/Renaissance art. The study of anatomy, proportion, and perspective was always more important than subject matter. So Abstract Expressionist artists like Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Barnett Newman took a huge risk in eliminating forms in the 1950s.
"It is our function as artists to make the spectator to see the world our way, not his way" is a big screw you to the conformists of art who believed art should be pretty and something that represents nature, or the real world. Because, obviously, that wasn't the point of Abstract Expressionism.