Untitled 1944

Mark Rothko made this painting with oil on canvas. The green, watery ground feels like the residue of many layers, with floating, slightly awkward shapes hovering in the foreground. What was Rothko thinking? I imagine him walking around, brush in hand, adding, subtracting, and searching for a balance. The blues and reds against the green create a sense of depth, but there’s also an uncertainty. It's like he’s trying to find the right key to unlock a feeling. There’s a vulnerability in this work, a willingness to let the painting be unresolved. It's as if he allows himself to be unsure and welcomes error. That blue swan-like figure on the left is just awkwardly standing there. Rothko, like all painters, was in conversation with the history of painting, and his work invites us to consider how painting can be a space of exploration, where meaning is not fixed but emerges through the process of seeing and feeling.