The Image Of Color—a Study On The Perceptual Experience Of Mark Rothko's Painting

Since modernism,the color system of western painting has greatly changed from the realistic color of classicism to the subjective color of liberation.Its color began to gradually break away from the shackles of form and move to the stage of history.Furthermore,people has an improvement for understanding of color.From the beginning of the 20th century,Color Field painting represented by Mark Rothko,took color as an independent element for ultimate expression in the picture.Their works not only eliminate the specific image in the picture with flat color but also create a "image"with color.Mainly taking the works of Mark Rothko as an example,this paper draws lessons from Martin J’s Visual Model,Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology Theory,Deleuze’s perception Theory and applied the research method of iconography to research on methods and viewing modes formed by color as independent element.It is mainly divided into four parts:Chapter one is the feeling of color which mainly combs the development course of color concept and the methodology provided by Martin J,Merleau-Ponty and Deleuze whose theory provides important guiding significance for the study of Rothko’s color painting in this paper.Rothko’s work can be called "baroque".He built his own color image in a unique way and used the large-scale drawing and the light environment to immerse the viewer in the painting.The second chapter is the skeleton of color.Drawing lessons from Deleuze’s research method on bacon color,this chapter attempts to explain the construction method of color skeleton in Rothko’s works.With the method of flat painting,Rothko combined color and shape to construct his own unique color skeleton.The third chapter is about the expression of intuition.The creation way of Rothko is analyzed and discussed concretely in this chapter.Rothko applied soft edge and infiltrated colors to complete the picture.The horizon in the picture and the use of large scales establish the relationship between form and feeling.The fourth chapter is the experience of viewing.The Rothko’s color gamut painting,removing the specific image,is completed with color only.He asked the viewer to interact with the work,so as to produce the experience of viewing and realize the emotional expression in the work.With the color being used as the main body of the picture,Rothko used color to construct a unique "image" to form a new visual pattern.And through the established color image,the religious spirit and tragic feelings are to be expressed.At the same time,in the viewing of painting,through the construction of the lighting environment,he guides the interaction between the viewer and the work,which realizes a kind of intimate experience.