Untitled (standing couple) 1936 - 1937

Mark Rothko made this painting of a standing couple with gouache on paper. It's this cool mix of colors – blues, reds, greens, and yellows – really jumping out against the dark background. You can almost feel Rothko’s hand moving, trying to capture something real, but also not quite there yet. It's like he’s searching, pushing the paint around, and letting the colors do their thing. I wonder if he was thinking about those early modern guys like Picasso or Matisse, trying to find his own way of doing figures, but with that Rothko vibe. That little spot of red on one of the figures – it’s like a tiny burst of energy that kinda holds the whole thing together. For me, this painting is all about the conversation artists have with each other across time. We all borrow, steal, and riff off each other's ideas, and it's that process of exchange that keeps the whole thing alive.