Untitled 1968

Curator: We are looking at an Untitled work by Mark Rothko, executed in 1968 with oil paint. Editor: It feels almost like entering a cave – somber and weighty, mostly dark. A dark blue hovers over a black field, a touch of maroon around the edges… Heavy in its verticality. Curator: Indeed. Rothko's work here continues his exploration of color field painting, focusing on large-scale expanses of color and their relationship to one another. The superimposition of color generates its emotional and aesthetic force through sheer scale and carefully calibrated chromatic interaction. Editor: Considering its production year, it feels like a reflection of the tumultuous late 60s, or perhaps of Rothko’s own brewing depression. It makes me wonder about the type of brushstrokes and layering of pigment that brought forth such an impactful emotional canvas. His methods surely played a role in achieving this quality. Curator: The material is quite apparent if one understands the way he layers translucent veils. This creates that luminous, almost glowing, effect despite the deep tones. His methodology involved diluting oil paint and applying it in thin layers, allowing light to interact within the painting itself, creating depth and a sense of the sublime. Editor: I read that Rothko even sometimes applied the paint with rags to get a smoother, almost blurry blending. Given that level of craft and process, I almost see this piece as a textile: Woven through layering. He took very mechanical production means and achieved highly sensitive, visual results. Curator: An interesting assessment. In a sense, the simplicity is deceptive; there’s a deeply structured system underpinning its execution and its subsequent optical effect. Rothko understood well the subtle interactions and cognitive associations provoked by different color pairings. Editor: Well, regardless of our contrasting approaches, both seem to point towards how deliberately everything was realized, not something automatic. He mastered the industrial materials available to him, which helped transform this canvas into an intense meditative object. Curator: Yes, a convergence on intentionality through different perspectives. It provides us much to ponder in its deceptively austere visual form.