A Ship Called Rothko: Artwork by Andy Royston
I’ve loved the work of Mark Rothko for as long as I can remember. The last time I recall one of the artist’s works selling it was at Christie’s in New York. The price was a cool $86.9 million. This price set a record for the top price paid for artwork produced after World War Two.
Therefore I think it’s pretty safe to assume that there won’t be a genuine Rothko hanging on the walls of my tiny apartment anytime soon.
I don’t want a cheap poster either. Sure, I found one I love online. It’s eighty dollars. If i wanted it framed, it’s closer to $300. And do I really want something on my wall that hundreds, thousands, maybe tens of thousand of people have too? No,I don’t.
So here’s the solution.
A Ship Called Rothko © Andy Royston. Click image to see more details.
A Ship Called Rothko by Andy Royston
This has all the elements of Rothko’s work that I love. The colours are just stunning and will suit any decor too.
I love the very slight figurative element too. At first, until I realised the title of this work, I didn’t notice the ship on the horizon.
What’s more, this is a photograph – but much more than that.
Every morning at dawn, Andy Royston walks on the beach at dawn taking photographs and capturing the moment using his iPhone.
Yes, this is iPhoneography, the latest artform that it in huge demand these days. One of the exciting aspects of Andy’s work is that photographs are taken and apped, if necessary, within five minutes – right there on the beach.
Andy is one of the best known exponents of this medium and his work has been exhibited worldwide.
As part of his @FtLauderdaleSun project no photographs are ever manipulated or artworked away from the beach. Not one of his artworks has ever been near any photo editing software.
But that’s the technical side.
This is a dramatic artwork but at the same time, has mysterious and mildly romantic elements. Where is the ship going? Where has it been? What must it be like to be board? What stories could it tell?
Remember too that this was taken at dawn – probably the most mysterious – and beautiful part of the day; the time when a new day begins, full of promise and potential. You can see in the graded horizon on the left that the sun is just beginning to make its appearance to signal the new day. In five minutes, maybe even less, the moment will have gone forever.
Except here it is, captured forever.
You can see more of Andy’s work here
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
August 13, 2015
This is a beautiful photograph in all respects: gradation of colour, composition (very difficult to achieve a level horizon with a hand held camera), and meaning. I particularly like the meaning aspect of this. Like all works of art, it can be interpreted in a range of ways, and for me I like the way the huge ship is dwarfed by the natural world around it. It puts life into perspective.