Figures Reclining on a Beach c. 1929

Mark Rothko made these figures reclining on a beach with watercolor on paper. Look at the way he’s built up the colors in thin washes, one over the other. I wonder, was he trying to capture the fleeting light of a hazy day at the beach? I can imagine Rothko squinting, trying to distill what he sees into these simplified forms. The figures almost melt into the sand, their shapes blurred and indistinct. It’s as if he’s trying to capture the essence of the moment rather than a precise representation. You see it, right? The cool blues and greens of the water meeting the warm browns and tans of the sand and skin. This piece feels like a stepping stone to Rothko’s later, more abstract works, where color and form become the primary subjects. He was always searching, always experimenting, pushing the boundaries of what painting could be. He was in constant conversation with the history of painting but also with his own evolving vision.