Page 344 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Byzantine Painting through Contemporary Eyes
In this diptych we observe a striking similarity of mood, a mood which in both com- positions is produced through the optimised use of colour. To the left is a 12th century Byzantine icon of St George, with a yellow background, while to the right is Rothko’s abstract composition painted in 1954.
In this visual demonstration the head of St George is gradually dissolved into the ab- solute yellow of Rothko’s work, and in the following diptych...
Above: Demonstration 8
38. Left: St George, Byzantine icon, end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century,
35,7 x 29 cm, St. Catherine Monastery on Sinai.
39. Right: Mark Rothko, Untitled (Blue, Yellow, Green on Red), 1954, oil on canvas, 197.5 x 166.4 cm (77.3⁄4 x 65.1⁄2), Collection of Gisela and Dennis Alter.
Below: Demonstration 9
40. In this visual demonstration we are shown how the Byzantine icon of St George fades into Rothko’s
abstract composition shown on the far right. 342