Untitled 1942

Mark Rothko's 1942 "Untitled" is a departure from his later, better-known color-field paintings. The work, housed in the National Gallery of Art, depicts fragmented, distorted figures in a gestural, expressionistic style. The fragmented anatomy suggests a visceral reaction to the horrors of World War II, a time when Rothko's work increasingly reflected his anxieties about the world. This "Untitled" piece demonstrates the artist's development from earlier figurative styles towards the abstract explorations that would later define his career.