Untitled 1948

Mark Rothko made this untitled painting with oil on canvas, sometime in the mid-20th century. Look at how he has applied the paint, the blurry edges and hazy fields of color, like memories half-forgotten. For Rothko, painting wasn’t about depicting something, but about creating an experience. Notice the lower left corner, there is an opaque, rectangular white form floating in space. It’s smudgy and blurred, less of a hard-edged geometric shape and more of a feeling, an atmosphere of weightlessness. The painting is all about the physicality of the medium. The colors aren’t blended so much as layered, one over the other, allowing each hue to retain its own distinct character. The overall effect is one of quiet contemplation. Rothko was onto something, this idea of art as a space for contemplation. You can see the influence of artists such as Turner and Monet in his landscapes. It’s up to you how to respond, art should be an open invitation.