Untitled 

Editor: Right now, we're looking at an untitled watercolor drawing by Mark Rothko. It's predominantly browns and grays, with these curious little splashes of color, almost playful, juxtaposed against what feels like a somber backdrop. I'm immediately drawn to the contrast; it has a raw, unfinished quality that really speaks to me. What’s your take? How do you interpret this work? Curator: Isn't it fascinating? I feel this work as a prelude, a whisper before Rothko found his iconic style. I see hints of figuration wrestling with pure abstraction. It reminds me of peeling back layers, trying to uncover something essential, a memory maybe? Do you get that sense of searching? I wonder, what if these weren’t shapes, but echoes of things seen, felt, half-remembered… Perhaps from his early life. Editor: Searching... definitely! The chaotic lines contribute to that, for sure. I also catch a slight suggestion of ritualistic objects – almost tribal. Are there any references to specific cultures at play here, consciously or otherwise? Curator: Hmm, that's an interesting angle. Tribal or ritualistic... possibly an unconscious reaching back. For me it conjures those shadowy interiors from his surrealist period. Perhaps, if you squint, it's a portrait, fractured and obscured by the artist's hand wrestling with something just beyond grasp. It seems to hint at some struggle before transcendence... What is its impact on you? Editor: It feels vulnerable, maybe? That unfinished quality makes it more human somehow. Like a peek into Rothko’s process. Curator: Precisely! Perhaps that is the emotional engine to his abstract expressionist approach: Rothko revealing rather than concealing. I shall need to contemplate how I frame his creative development. Thank you for seeing this work with fresh eyes. Editor: Thanks for untangling all this with me! It gives you a completely different way of thinking about abstract expressionism.