Mark Rothko, The Dark Paintings of 1969-1970
Brown and Gray Series On Paper
Part Two
1 - Untitled,1969
Acrylic on wove paper
70 ž x 47 1/16 in. (179.7 x 119.5 cm)
Collection of Christopher Rothko.
2 - Untitled,1969
Acrylic on wove paper
59 7/8 x 48 1/8 in. (152.1 x 122.2 cm)
InscriptionVerso: MARK ROTHKO 1969
Collection National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
3 - Untitled,1969
Acrylic on wove paper
71 15/16 x 48 1/8 in. (182.7 x 122.2 cm)
InscriptionVerso: MARK ROTHKO 1969
Collection National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.Â
4 - Untitled,1969
Acrylic on wove paper
71 15/16 x 48 1/8 in. (182.7 x 122.2 cm)
InscriptionVerso: MARK ROTHKO 1969
Collection National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.Â
5 - Untitled,1969
Acrylic on wove paper
72 x 42 5/16 in. (182.9 x 107.5 cm)
InscriptionVerso: MARK ROTHKO 1969
Collection National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.Â
6 - Untitled,1969
Acrylic on wove paper
71 13/16 x 48 Âź in. (182.4 x 122.6 cm)
Collection Christopher Rothko.Â
The simple two-field composition of the Brown and Gray works on paper constitutes another significant development in Rothkoâs late work. He asked his studio assistants to staple and tape large sheets of pre-cut paper to wooden boards that could then be placed on an easel. Once the painting process was completed, the tape was removed revealing an edge of unpainted paper around the brown upper and the grey lower sections. Though it is unclear whether this edge was a part of Rothkoâs thinking from the outset, some way into the series he began to stress its conceptual importance.
Rothko began work on the series in late 1968. Earlier in the year he suffered an aortic aneurysm that forced him to stop working altogether for several weeks. During the summer, when he had sufficiently recovered to return to his work his doctors recommended that he limit himself to formats no larger than forty inches in height, resulting in a prolific production of exuberantly colorful works on paper. The reduction in color of the Brown and Grays is, therefore, a conscious element of Rothkoâs sense of them as a separate series. Almost uniform in format, every adjustment to the fieldsâ proportions, their tonal hue or the gestural brushwork reveal themselves as meaningful painterly gestures within the self-imposed limitations of the compositionâs simple structure.
(Rothkoâs paintings of this year are, in scans, sometimes a little  difficult to differentiate from one another as amounts of brown or  purple change from photo to photo.Most of the  1969 âTwo colorâ dark paintings are contained in these three sets others can be found under  the tags âdark rothkoâ andâ1969âł)
