#ArtSpeaks: Wenxiao Li on Mark Rothko

“This dimensional sensation just roused me out of the depression that I had at that time…and I realized there’s a slight chance that Mark Rothko is going through the same emotional journey as I did.”

Mark Rothko; In: Conversations with Artists, Selden Rodman, New York Devin-Adair 1957. p. 93.

There is no survey to prove it, but it is likely that the majority of people who have wept over twentieth-century paintings have done so in front of Rothko’s paintings. (…) Their entries in the visitor’s books are usually short—a line or two. “It is a visually and viscerally stunning experience,” one writes, and another says, “I can’t help but leave this place with tears in my eyes.” The books have dozens of similar entries: “Was moved to tears, but feel like some change in a good direction will happen.” “My first visit moved me to tears of sadness.” “Thank you for creating a place for my heart to cry.” “Probably the most moving experience I have had with art.” “This makes me fall down.” “The silence pierces deeply, to the heart.” “Once more I am moved—to tears.” “A religious experience that moves one to tears.” “Tears, a liquid embrace.” And the saddest one: “I wish I could cry.”