Untitled 1945 - 1946

Editor: This "Untitled" oil painting, made by Mark Rothko around 1945 or '46, has such a subdued and almost dreamlike quality, even though it doesn't depict anything recognizable. It's so abstract and open to interpretation. What catches your eye in this piece, and how do you read it? Curator: What strikes me is the period in which Rothko created this. Coming so soon after the Second World War, works like this, even in their abstraction, were inherently political. Think about the institutions of art at the time. Museums, galleries, and even collectors, were all grappling with a changing world, a need for new visual languages. Does that impact your initial feeling that this has a dreamlike quality? Editor: Absolutely! Knowing the historical context makes the "dream" feel… heavier? It's less whimsical now, maybe more like a reflection on trauma, or even the unsettling search for meaning. I'm thinking of it being shown in galleries then: was it readily embraced or met with resistance? Curator: Initially, there was resistance, certainly. Rothko was challenging established notions of what art *should* be. Consider also the role of critics, who could either make or break an artist's career. Did their influence then create this political edge to abstract works that maybe wasn’t originally there? Editor: That’s such a great point! The politics of how the image is viewed, and how people were *allowed* to view the image, gives it all an added weight. Looking at those hazy blues, greys, and browns… I find it difficult not to link those colors to loss and instability when you situate them in that era. Curator: Exactly. The visual language becomes a public negotiation of experience and how to define the changing sociopolitical landscape. Now, how might our reaction change if this painting had been embraced immediately, championed by powerful critics? Editor: It might be less intriguing, actually. Some of its power definitely comes from its struggle for acceptance and how it challenged people. Thank you, this has completely transformed my initial reading!