Interior 1936

Mark Rothko made this painting 'Interior' in Washington. I imagine Rothko laying down these strokes, one by one, each a small building block. He starts with the heavy reds of the walls, then carves out the space with thick, creamy paint. The painting feels like a stage set, doesn’t it? There’s a painting within a painting, and sculptures flanking a dark doorway. I wonder, what’s back there in that inky green? Rothko is playing with layers, inviting us to look deeper into the scene, and into ourselves. It reminds me of Giorgio de Chirico, another painter who loved these mysterious, theatrical spaces. Maybe Rothko was thinking about him, or maybe he was just chasing a feeling, a mood, something that couldn't be put into words. That’s the beauty of painting – it's a conversation across time, where artists borrow, steal, and transform each other's ideas.