Figures Reclining on a Beach c. 1929

Mark Rothko made Figures Reclining on a Beach with watercolor, and it's all about how the colors melt into each other, right? It’s like he’s finding the forms as he goes along, kind of swimming through the paint. Look at how the blues and browns bleed together. It’s not precise; it’s more about feeling. The texture feels sandy, or is that just my mind filling in the blanks? You can almost smell the sea air. There's a figure in the lower left, and the way their blue swimsuit just merges with the ground? It's so fluid, like the figures are part of the landscape itself. This piece reminds me of Milton Avery, the way he simplifies things down to these core shapes and colors. Rothko doesn't give us all the answers, but leaves us space to dream our own version of the beach. That's the fun of it, isn't it?