Doctor's Notes: The Painting I Chose From PMA

This was my first ever visit to the PMA. The strange part, is that I have lived within 8 miles of it for my entire life. Seems like a bit of a shame now, but whatever, that's in the past. Now, on to the painting. I spent the first portion of my visit in the Rembrandt exhibition, but I wasn't allowed to take pictures, and I sort of didn't want to, so that's good. After Rembrandt, I went to the 1850-Present section, and that is where my choice comes from. It was such a wonderful gallery. Most of my favorite artists were active during those time periods. Van Gogh is my favorite painter that they have displayed at the museum (obviously Philadelphia isn't cool enough for a Caravaggio). Here we go:

I had never seen a Rothko painting (color field or otherwise) before in person. I knew that they were great, I know that I loved what he said, what he did, what they were, and how they looked, but there is no comparison between seeing one online and seeing one in person. I was truly engaged. I don't think that I ever experienced anything like that before in my life. I stood as close as I could without the guards getting pissed (I believe that the little foot railings were actually 18 inches away, so that's convient). I got lost in the painting. Rothko succeeded in shutting me out from the rest of the world (literally). While I was entranced at the painting, a group of people from a tour came by, waiting to talk about the piece while I was staring. I didn't notice them until they were all standing behind me, looking at the kid who was in front of this massive painting. I told the woman who was leading the tour that I didn't even notice their presence, and that I was only listening to Rothko when she asked why I was standing so closely to the painting. It has a spell. It sounds a little stupid, but wow. I didn't want to leave. It was that good. His colors and intriguing, and mildly muddy. His strokes are beyond astounding, messy, but flowing into one another with a savage grace that can only be seen while standing directly in front of the painting. His paintings made me feel much more emotion than anything else that I had seen. I don't care too much for Jesus, so almost the entire Pre 1850 section was out. And Rembrandt's portraits of Jews were nice, but not too interesting. The Barnes' collection of Impressionist paintings make the PMA look like a side show, so those were out--even though Van Gogh had some paintings there, they were just alright, and the rest of the bunch had some nice ones, but nothing to piss yourself over. Turner had a lovely painting in there, but I like his more chaotic ones, and watercolors, personally. Rothko's painting sings the song of his life and his personality. He had the most meaning in his three colored painting out of everything that was in that museum. I always said that I liked Rothko paintings, but now I can say that I love them.

Here are some other pictures that I took before I came to the Rothko that stole my heart