Mark Rothko, The Dark Paintings, Brown and Gray series, part one, on paper
The simple two-field composition of the Brown and Gray works on paper constitutes another significant development in Rothko’s 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 Rothko’s 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 Rothko’s sense of them as a separate series. Almost uniform in format, every adjustment to the fields’ proportions, their tonal hue or the gestural brushwork reveal themselves as meaningful painterly gestures within the self-imposed limitations of the composition’s simple structure.
(Rothko’s 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 “Two color” dark paintings are contained in these three sets others can be found under the tags “dark rothko” and”1969″)
1- Untitled, 1969
Acrylic on wove paper
68 ¼ x 48 ¼ in. (173.4 x 122.6 cm)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.57.
Photograph © 2025 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2- Untitled, 1969
Acrylic on wove paper
60 ¼ x 47 5/8 in. (153.0 x 121.0 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1985, Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Image Source: Art Resource, NY
3- Untitled, 1969
Acrylic on wove paper
68 1/16 x 48 ½ in. (172.9 x 123 cm)
Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.12.
Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago
4- Untitled, 1969
Acrylic on wove paper
60 ¼ x 47 5/8 in. (153.0 x 121.0 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.,
Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Image Source: Art Resource, NY
5- Untitled, 1969
Acrylic on wove paper
72 1/16 x 48 5/16 in. (183.0 x 122.7 cm)
Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago
6- Untitled, 1969
Acrylic on wove paper
62 5/16 x 48 5/16 in. (158.3 x 122.7 cm)
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc
7- Untitled, 1969 (possibly unfinished)
Acrylic on wove paper
72 5/16 x 48 1/8 in. (183.7 x 122.2 cm)
National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
8- Untitled, 1969
Acrylic on wove paper
71 3/8 x 48 in. (181.3 x 121.9 cm)
Collection Christopher Rothko
9- Untitled, 1969
Acrylic on wove paper
60 ¼ x 48 1/8 in. (152.9 x 122.2 cm)
National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.
10- Untitled, 1969
Acrylic on wove paper
42 3/8 x 36 13/16 in. (107.6 x 93.5 cm)
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.,
Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College
All paintings © Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko/ARS
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