Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1969

Acrylic on Wove paper mounted on linen Dimensions71 13/16 x 48 1/8 in. (182.4 x 122.2 cm) Estate/Inventory Number2072.69 Collection of Kate Rothko Prizel. © Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko Brown and Gray series

I took this picture today of this absolutely gorgeous painting. Sadly my better camera needs repair, but this is still better than most of our standing catalog scans. Thus might be my favorite of the brown and gray series. Remarkable in person.

Note that these sometimes look crooked because the white borders were painted on by Rothko, something he only chose to do for the black and gray and brown and gray series in 1969. The edge may seem like a small thing but Rothko always refused to contain his images, letting the paint appear borderless. For him, this was a significant change as was the dedication to this particular dark palette for a number of paintings. These on paper differ from the canvas black and gray series but the effect defies expectations about what paintings on paper can look like.