Abstraction is one of the most fascinating insights into the human mind and has been used by artists to make comments about the unique nature of humanity and imply meaning and messages in their art. Two of these artists are Mark Rothko (1903 ¡V1970) and Brett Whiteley (1939 ¡V1992). Despite having lived very different lives, and producing very different art, these artists are linked through their personal preoccupations and influences and well as their use of symbolism, colour and abstraction.

Mark Rothko was one of the most innovative and prolific artists that ever lived. He used colour as a symbolic reference to human emotion and experience. During his master period in the late nineteen forties, Rothko¡¦s work was characterised by a geometrically structured style where powerful colours were used to represent emotion and therefore his work is imbued with something human and...