Untitled (woman in subway) c. 1938

This painting, Untitled (woman in subway), was made by Mark Rothko. The brushstrokes are loose, almost like a sketch, and the colors are muted, mostly browns and creams. It feels like Rothko was trying to capture a feeling more than a perfect picture. I imagine him standing in a bustling subway, trying to get this woman down on paper. Maybe he was intrigued by her stillness amidst the chaos, or maybe he just liked the way the light hit her dress. The paint looks thin, like he was working quickly, trying to get the essence of the scene down before it disappeared. Look at the way he painted the subway tracks – just a few lines, but they really give you a sense of depth. Rothko wasn't just painting what he saw, but what he felt. He was probably thinking about Hopper, or maybe even some of the early modernists. Artists are always looking at each other, riffing off each other’s ideas. Ultimately, painting is this embodied conversation, and Rothko is right in the middle of it, trying to make sense of the world in his own way.