Untitled 1944 - 1945

This untitled work by Mark Rothko is made with mixed media on paper, and it’s all about openness and emergence. Look at how the shapes and lines feel their way across the page! I love how Rothko lets the materials speak. There’s a real push-and-pull between intention and chance. Imagine Rothko in his studio, charcoal and pastel in hand. He probably stepped back, squinted, and let the image come into being—shifting, revising, and letting the composition evolve organically. The linear gestures are tentative, like thoughts in progress. You can see a lineage in this kind of art making – from surrealist automatism to the spontaneous gestures of Cy Twombly. What is clear, is that artists feed off each other's energies. Rothko’s searching lines and porous forms aren’t just about expressing himself; he’s in conversation with all the painters who came before and all those who will come after. Painting is a process of discovery—an exchange between the artist, the materials, and the history of art.