Enjoyed your piece on the Newshour the other night. You might be interested to know that there is at least one quite significant piece of music inspired by the Rothko paintings. American Composer David Ward-Steinman wrote a "Concerto for Cello and Orchestra" where, especially in the middle movement, chord clusters take the function of the large rectangles of colors in the Rothko paintings. This is a very beautiful work. There is an arrangement of the piece for Cello and Piano called "Duo for Cello and Piano" that has been recorded for the CRI label by Edgar Lustgarten (former principal cellist with the NBC Symphony and the one who commissioned the work) and John Williams pianist (of movie score and Boston Pops fame). The composer lives in San Diego.

Paul Sedan of Charlotte, NC

Nice piece on Mark Rothko on August 5. However two things worth adding are, (1) Rothko's comment that those people who stand in front of his canvases and weep are experiencing the same emotions I had when I painted them. Truly Rothko painted the "eternal present." When you see a Rothko canvas and allow it to envelope you, all other painting seems second-best; (2) His "suicide" is doubted by some. Careful research points to interesting avenues.

Darrell Judd of Stoughton MA

Mr. Solman;
As a painter struggling in obscurity (probably deserved) I find your reports on the visual arts on The Newshour to be totally refreshing. You may be one of the only people in the mainstream media to pay any attention at all to art in a seriously inquisitive way.

Your report on the Rothko show (8/5) came one week after I drove to Washington to see The National Gallery and the Diebenkorn show at the Phillips Collection. I stumbled onto the Rothko show and was pleasantly surprised. He was a much better painter than I gave him credit for being. I believe the creeping monotony you suggested feeling comes from the fact that the classic Rothko color field paintings are thin i.e., he had focused on a narrow range of concerns in the paintings. But your charming father summed up the work perfectly. He said his initial reaction early on was to credit Rothko with doing nice tasteful work; but, later concluded that there is something profoundly beautiful about large areas of color composed. He is exactly right. There is a simple optical phenomena that makes this so. I learned of this optical reality while studying with James Weeks at Boston University Thanks for your interest in art and for the Newshours' courage for giving you a voice. Your father is an inspiration.

Timothy X. Troy of Appleton, WI

Bravo!

What a wonderful segment on the Newshour, and what a treat to hear perspectives on Rothko. Thanks.

Peter Hudson of NY NY

I've always felt that Rothko was patiently waiting for me to comprehend something in his work. As if he had a message that was so simple he would wait until it came to me.

I think that unprovoked need to connect to his work is the reason so many people, untrained like myself, strive for an empathy through the contemplation of his work.

And all that through color ...

Paul Holmes of Hagerman, NM

As I sit looking out my window on the western edge of the Great Plains here in eastern New Mexico I could be looking at a Rothko painting. The top horizontal band of color is the sky. Below, other bands of color are middle and foreground. All colors in this scene change with time of day and with the seasons. I don't have to go to any museum to see this. I wonder if Rothko could have received some inspiration by views like mine?

Louise of San Francisco

Round One. The eternal question:

Can Red beat up Yellow? Can Green love Black?

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