Study of Wooded Area 

Editor: We’re looking at "Study of Wooded Area," a pen and ink drawing by Mark Rothko. It has a wonderfully unfinished feel, almost like catching a glimpse of a dreamscape. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Oh, dreams are exactly where this whisks me off to! It feels like peering into Rothko’s mind while he’s half-asleep in a forest. See how the lines seem to tremble, almost as if the trees themselves are breathing? It reminds me of my own sketchbooks - places for experimentation and a glimpse into a deeper reality. Does it evoke that for you at all? Editor: Definitely. There’s a real sense of intimacy to it, seeing his process so raw. The looseness of the lines almost abstracts the landscape. Curator: Precisely! This feels so pre-Rothko as we know him. This is pre- that deep dive into color, that monolithic obsession that made him, well, Rothko! Don’t you think this whispers, "I'm still figuring it out?" Editor: Absolutely. It makes him relatable. It’s liberating to see that even Rothko started somewhere with such simple, vulnerable sketches. Curator: Yes! Almost like a prelude before a symphony, where we hear the orchestra tuning their instruments, testing and tweaking. I wonder, did these woodland scrawls ever seep into those great shimmering canvases later? Editor: I never thought of it that way, but maybe the underlying emotion is there, just translated into color and scale. It gives the abstracts so much more resonance, understanding their personal origin. Curator: Ah, see? And this is why I love looking at art with fresh eyes. You made me rethink what "Rothko" means! Editor: And I’m leaving with a new appreciation for seeing an artist’s foundation, even one as monumental as Rothko.