The thief, time ...

... Mark Rothko: 1961 Tranquil, transcendent. 2008 Routine, repetitive. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Something in me wants to remain true to my adolescent vision. The beauty I imagined I also saw, and could not have seen without Rothko's aid. But I do not see it today, and wonder how much it was the product of the stress of adolescence, and of the strange, still atmosphere of the Whitechapel Gallery in those days when so few people visited it, and when those few were all in search of redemption from the world outside.