(Untitled) [recto] c. early 1940s

This small, untitled painting, likely done in the early part of Rothko's career, is made on paper with watercolor and ink. You can see the artist trying things out. He's using a limited palette of blacks, reds, greens and fleshy pinks. It looks like a painting that came together through the process of painting itself - like he’s thinking through feeling. I can imagine Rothko's hand moving swiftly, guided by intuition. See the black, wavy brushstrokes at the top? They create a sense of space, like a curtain or a strange sky. Then your eye moves towards the figures. The paint is fluid, almost translucent in places. A red line runs along the bottom edge, grounding the composition. It reminds me of the stage or a bed, or maybe both. There's a sense of ambiguity here that's really interesting, like Rothko is in conversation with Picasso, Matisse, or even Beckmann. It's all part of this ongoing dialogue that artists have across time.