Mark Rothko wanted you to be totally immersed in his works, so the best way to view his paintings in person is to stand right up against them, so you can't see beyond the canvas.
This way you will be completely submerged in the feeling he is trying to generate. As an Abstract Expressionist, he sought to induce a particular feeling by paying rigorous attention to formal properties such as colour, shape, balance, depth, composition and scale.
Here in White Cloud Over Purple (1957) he applied the paint in thin layers to add luminosity and reduce depth, and made the canvas vast in scale to have that all-encompassing, meditative effect.
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It is not an attempt to induce a feeling - WRONG.
It IS the product of a process in which feelings may or may not play a significant role.
The process of creation is divorced from any concept of meaning.
Meaning, significance and emotional content are attributes of the experiencer.
Meaning cannot be captured, packaged and subscribed as done here.
The description of an artist trying to induce feeling by ''paying rigorous attention to formal properties such as colour, shape, balance, depth, composition and scale'' is nonsensical. No such intent is there.
And no rigorous conscious attention exists. The creative process is largely intuitive.
Using Late Modern understandings to talk of art which is proto-Postmodern leads to incoherent ramblings. The modern wants fixity of meaning and clear descriptions of cause and effect. The techno-scientific, psychological approach - all bull. Descriptive narratives based on intention and interpretation no longer apply. These works are ever ambiguous and cannot be pinned down.
And those who say they are tripe are the equals of those who find their souls in them because objectivity is dead and subjectivity rules!