Page 329 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Chapter VI
the last layer in rendering the features of saints, their robes, as well as architectural ele- ments, is by rule the brightest. And also, the unnatural, inner light of the Byzantine fig- ures, expresses the graceful presence of the divine which is believed to exist in every person: thus the technique serves a theological message. Therefore, we can understand through this comparison how Rothko’s experimentation with white could be understood as a Byzantine inspiration. In other words, we can understand what Rothko meant by saying that he is “not a colourist” precisely through his usage of white, and through his frequent specifications as well as a continuous dissatisfaction regarding the lighting of the rooms in which his work was displayed. It could be observed that the decades-long experimentation with white was instigated and nurtured by Rothko’s inner, psychologi- cal search for a light which was not accessible in nature manifest but elsewhere.
It is because of this that Rothko was so joyful when in 1964 he was commissioned by the de Menils to paint the pieces for The Rothko Chapel in Houston. He knew intuitive- ly that this was to be his most comprehensive Nietzsche-like dialogue with the ‘absent’ divine – or his personal search for the Byzantine-like uncreated light. Consequently, as seen in images 71 and 72, the 14 large format paintings (3 triptychs and five individual pieces) in this chapel are not completely dark: the thinly applied dark blue layers of col- our, which like in Byzantine painting, are applied gradually, not only permit the vision to enter but also entirely embrace the viewer by the spatial depth which they convey. Half of the paintings in The Rothko Chapel in Houston were finished as monochromes, while the other half were painted with borders as black rectangles. As it has been noted by Jacob Baal-Teshuva, both the entirely monochromatic treatment and the sharp bor- ders of the black rectangles represented a novelty for Rothko.63
The initially intended architect of the then yet to be built chapel, Philip Johnson, was not responsive to Rothko’s vision of the project, and consequently a new set of architects had to be employed, Howard Barnstone and Eugene Aubry, who acted according to Rothko’s instructions.64 Unfortunately, Rothko didn’t live to see his work installed in the Chapel in Huston, though he was able to complete the large-size pieces and envisage their final effect within the space which was being created for them. Given that the paintings at The Rothko Chapel in Houston are the epitome of Rothko’s artistic achieve- ment, towards the end of the series of our following comparative analyses and visual demonstrations, we shall visually demonstrate the parallel between The Rothko Chapel and the painting of Late Byzantium.
63 Jacob Baal-Teshuva, Rothko (Taschen, 2003), 74. 64 Ibid, 73.
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