No. 16 1957

Mark Rothko made this oil on canvas, No. 16, sometime in his career, and it now lives at the National Gallery of Canada. It’s a big painting, almost ten feet wide! When you stand in front of it, you’re enveloped by these hazy rectangles of colour. There’s a definite physicality to the paint. It’s not thick like impasto, but thin and washy. You can see the layers, like looking through coloured smoke. Look closely at that orangey-red rectangle near the top. See how the edges are soft and blurred? Rothko wasn't after clean lines, but something much more atmospheric. The white rectangle below seems to hover. It's less about a solid form and more about a luminous presence. Rothko’s paintings always remind me of Agnes Martin’s delicate grids. Both artists invite us into a space of quiet contemplation, but Rothko does it with these bold, enveloping colours. He doesn’t tell you what to feel, but he certainly makes you feel something.