Untitled 1945 - 1946

This untitled oil on canvas was made by Mark Rothko and it feels like a piece of excavated memory. I can imagine Rothko layering these browns, whites, and pale greens one over the other, searching for something just out of reach. The paint is applied thinly, almost staining the canvas, except for a few thicker moments, like those scribbled, looping gestures. What were you feeling, Mark, as you dragged your brush through the wet paint? It reminds me of some of de Kooning’s paintings, but Rothko is already pushing towards something else, something more atmospheric and less like figuration. Painting is a conversation, right? We all talk to each other across time, riffing on the same ideas. For Rothko, I see him searching for how a painting can envelop you, how a painting can become a space for feeling. He’s paving the way for his later color field paintings, and the intense emotional resonance of those works.