Still Life with Glass, Pitcher, and Orange 

Mark Rothko created this Still Life with Glass, Pitcher, and Orange, with watercolor, likely early in his career. The composition features everyday objects arranged on what appears to be a table. Note the subdued palette and how Rothko uses light and shadow to define form and space. The arrangement of the objects, though simple, carries a certain weight. The glass, pitcher, and orange are not merely depicted but presented as structural elements within a carefully considered space. Rothko’s approach to still life destabilizes traditional representation by emphasizing the interplay of form and color over realistic depiction. The objects are reduced to their essential shapes, hinting at a deeper exploration of perception and existence. In its quiet way, this watercolor embodies a move towards abstraction, as the formal elements—color, line, shape—begin to assert their independence from the objects they represent. This approach sets the stage for Rothko's later, more abstract works, where color and form become the primary subjects.