Untitled 1942

Mark Rothko made this untitled painting on board with oil, and I like thinking about how it came into being, with him shifting it around, and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathise with Rothko, and wonder what it might have been like to create. What was he thinking when he made it? I mean, the paint isn’t super thick, but the visible brushstrokes are so communicative, like a seismograph of his inner feelings, of intention, and meaning. There’s the green on the left and the brown on the right with the stacked zigzags in the centre. I see him in his studio, surrounded by canvases, brushes in hand. This piece, with its colour choices, reminds me a little of his later work. Maybe he saw something here that was worth exploring further. Artists are always in conversation, you know? Exchanging ideas, inspiring each other across time, which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.