Meeting #16

This is #16, painted by Mark Rothko in 1957, and part of the National Gallery's permanent collection. Originally shown as Two Whites, Two Reds, it was lost - safely in storage and in excellent condition - for 30 years. It was bought by the Gallery in 1992, at a bargain price of 6.35 cents per Canadian.

I know that not everyone, possibly even a fewer than half, will 'get' this sort of thing. But when I look at #16, or its neighbours - Barnett Newman's 'Voice of Fire' and 'Yellow Edge' - I see perfection.

For what it's worth, this photo is a product of extensive time in Photoshop. If you travel to Ottawa, the gallery space won't look quite the way it does here, but the photo looks the way I want it to. There's a much larger image of the artwork on the CyberMuse website, and while its reproduction quality is reasonably good, it misses the colour and subtlety of the original painting. You'll also have to imagine it being too big to fit in your living room: #16 is over eight feet tall.