Primeval Landscape 1945

Editor: So, here we have Mark Rothko's "Primeval Landscape" from 1945, executed with acrylic paint. It’s… chaotic, almost primal, but the texture of the acrylic also gives it an oddly refined feeling. What’s your take on this? Curator: I'm immediately drawn to the material reality of the acrylic. Rothko’s application –notice how thin and layered it is – speaks to a specific postwar economy of materials. Acrylic allowed for a different kind of build-up than oils, right? Did this shift production, perhaps make large scale paintings like this accessible to more artists than before? Editor: I hadn't considered that. So the accessibility of acrylic influences not just the visual style, but also who gets to participate in the art world? Curator: Exactly. The turn toward acrylic in this period is rarely discussed aesthetically, it often is seen as economical - the cost, distribution, labor. I'm particularly interested in how these layered textures simulate depth –what’s your feeling about that? Does the horizontal bands and linear elements help articulate space and landscape here? Editor: Definitely, it feels like he’s evoking landscape, even if abstractly. Does that link to the title, then? If Rothko is deliberately referencing Landscape conventions with new available materials. Curator: Potentially, I think the dialogue of this kind is fascinating because it forces us to interrogate these assumptions about landscape art! What assumptions, habits of production, or cultural attitudes are actually imbedded within a medium's history? Editor: I see your point. I tend to think of artistic vision first, but thinking about the availability and affordability of materials gives a much richer, more nuanced understanding. Curator: And hopefully we all will be able to challenge the concept of "high art" too. Thanks to Rothko using cheaper methods than his contemporaries, now, abstraction become much more popular to public. This helps the artist build the world we understand today. Editor: Thanks! That completely changed how I look at Rothko now, thinking about the material constraints shaping even abstract expressionism!