Untitled (Harvard Mural sketch) 1962

Curator: This is "Untitled (Harvard Mural sketch)," an oil-on-canvas work painted in 1962 by Mark Rothko. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: My immediate impression is one of somberness. The dominating dark masses pressing against the red tones evoke a feeling of constraint, like suppressed anger or mourning. Curator: That's a perceptive reading. Rothko’s use of color here isn't merely decorative. Color functions as a conveyor of emotion, particularly loss and existential anxiety. The bold blocks resemble abstract figures, guardians, or perhaps even tombstones looming large in our collective subconscious. Editor: Absolutely. And considering its genesis as a sketch for a Harvard mural intended for a dining hall, the eventual rejection of this series resonates strongly. These aren't the colors of celebration or nourishment, are they? This somber palette perhaps reflects the anxieties of a post-war era. It raises questions about the role of art in institutional spaces, what it means to 'feed' the minds of the privileged, and what happens when those visions clash. Curator: Exactly. There’s a strong dialogue here with archetypal symbolism. Consider the persistent verticality—suggesting ascent but also rigidity. These dark columns seem to carry echoes of ancient standing stones or monolithic architecture. They feel burdened by a history, a weight passed down. They're simultaneously imposing and vulnerable, given the bleeding edges and blurred forms. Editor: The blurred boundaries and lack of defined shape seem intentional, echoing the fracturing of identity. We're left questioning the role institutions play in forming us, as the shapes cannot be readily or definitively perceived. The artwork’s strength lies in revealing the emotional implications when progress is not attainable within an institution, even with the promise of a 'progressive' vision. Curator: It is powerful how the rejection of the final work resulted in even more deeply resonant meanings of failure, and disillusion. What starts as a dining hall plan instead serves as an eternal meditation on mortality, ideology, and power. Editor: Rothko presents us with unresolved tensions and haunting visuals, stirring something profound. It speaks volumes on themes of institutional pressure and emotional fortitude through such basic shapes and pigments.