Inspired By Rothko

An abstract painting in Florence, a poppy from the mountains in Turkey. The same colour, thousands of miles apart - inspiration for this limited edition Wilks Overshirt.

I was in Florence earlier this year, and went to see the Rothko exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi - a retrospective looking at how the city’s churches had influenced his work.

In one of the rooms a video was playing. It quoted Rothko saying, ‘I have been painting temples all my life without knowing it’. Having walked around the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella earlier that morning, I knew exactly what he meant.

I’ve always liked abstract expressionism, and Rothko’s paintings in particular. What struck me more than anything was a deep plum colour - used in a number of the works being shown.

There was something about it. Every time I saw it, it stopped me. I don’t know why, and it’s hard to describe. There was something powerful in that colour. It was the first time I’ve had this kind of reaction to a piece of art.

A few weeks later I was in the mountains in Turkey, having just visited a regenerative cotton farm. We pulled over and a red poppy on the roadside caught my eye. I picked it, tucked it into my notebook, and didn’t think about it again.

When I got home, the petals had dried to the exact colour of the Rothko painting. That was enough for me... I decided to make a limited edition run of the Wilks Overshirt in the same shade of plum.


WILKS OVERSHIRT : ROTHKO PLUM →

Inspired By Rothko

An abstract painting in Florence, a poppy from the mountains in Turkey. The same colour, thousands of miles apart - inspiration for this limited edition Wilks Overshirt.

I was in Florence earlier this year, and went to see the Rothko exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi - a retrospective looking at how the city’s churches had influenced his work.

In one of the rooms a video was playing. It quoted Rothko saying, ‘I have been painting temples all my life without knowing it’. Having walked around the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella earlier that morning, I knew exactly what he meant.

I’ve always liked abstract expressionism, and Rothko’s paintings in particular. What struck me more than anything was a deep plum colour - used in a number of the works being shown.

There was something about it. Every time I saw it, it stopped me. I don’t know why, and it’s hard to describe. There was something powerful in that colour. It was the first time I’ve had this kind of reaction to a piece of art.

A few weeks later I was in the mountains in Turkey, having just visited a regenerative cotton farm. We pulled over and a red poppy on the roadside caught my eye. I picked it, tucked it into my notebook, and didn’t think about it again.

When I got home, the petals had dried to the exact colour of the Rothko painting. That was enough for me... I decided to make a limited edition run of the Wilks Overshirt in the same shade of plum.


WILKS OVERSHIRT : ROTHKO PLUM →