Untitled [recto] c. 1944

Curator: I find this "Untitled" drawing by Mark Rothko from around 1944 quite intriguing. It’s rendered in watercolor and colored pencil. What catches your eye first? Editor: Immediately, a feeling of searching. Like peering through a misty window, the shapes are present but not fully defined, existing in this murky grey space. Is that intentional or something circumstantial about his early abstraction? Curator: He's in that pivotal moment, right? Shedding figuration but not quite into those monumental color fields he’s known for. There’s a vulnerability here, searching for a visual language to express interiority perhaps during tumultuous times—World War II raging. Editor: Absolutely. The geometric forms layered with organic shapes – the ovals, the vertical lines. It is an echo of biological diagrams, an allusion to growth, held captive. And what's striking to me is the red slash, bisecting that teardrop shape – is it a wound? Curator: Or a barrier? I see it almost like a surreal keyhole—we are not allowed to cross the line. Rothko’s compositions at this time feel so deeply rooted in surrealism, dreams, primordial landscapes—it almost transcends literal interpretation and delves into the subconscious. The limited palette almost enhances that. Editor: I agree. Also, notice the dominance of that grayish color: its muted tone emphasizes a kind of veiled existence, almost a limbo-like state, while still alive. Do you agree the circles on the left have the impression of surveillance, looking in a fishbowl? Curator: In my mind, each shape possesses its own strange agency and there’s a quiet discourse, like figures frozen mid-conversation. In my read, Rothko wants to explore relationships but leaves a generous amount of interpretation to the audience. And sometimes what you feel is what matters most, beyond specific interpretations. Editor: This piece truly highlights that art-making as both a means for inner examination, and a reflection of outer socio-political conditions – perhaps all the more resonant today, and invites us to sit with unresolved feelings of uncertainty and seeking, which can still be powerful. Curator: Ultimately, "Untitled" embodies that potent transitional phase in an artist's career, and serves as a mirror reflecting human struggle between finding your way forward in times of disquiet.