Untitled 1961

This untitled drawing was made by Mark Rothko using graphite on paper. I find myself wondering what was on Rothko's mind when he made this. Maybe he wasn't thinking at all, just allowing the marks to emerge and construct their own form. Looking at these stacked rectangles, there's a real sense of the artist feeling his way through the composition, building up a network of lines to delineate forms. I’m drawn to how the simple act of layering lines can create depth and dimension. You know, like how a sculptor adds clay to build up form? The lines aren’t perfect, and there's something really appealing about that. It's like he's leaving room for doubt. I find that encouraging. He's not trying to present us with a finished statement, more like a proposition. Rothko's work feels like a part of a long conversation between artists across time. It highlights how we are all trying to figure things out. We embrace ambiguity and uncertainty. That allows for multiple interpretations.