In the manner of Mark Rothko
American, 1903–1970
Untitled (Blue Light), 2026
Oil on canvas
250 × 200 cm
Never painted.
Commissioned for the collection, 2026.
PAB 2026.20.4
A cold pale-blue rectangle hangs above a deep navy one, and between them, like a horizon, runs a thin line of white light. The whole painting glows the way a phone does in a dark bedroom. Rothko made his chapel in Houston nearly black, so that the light would have to come from inside the paintings. This light comes from inside too, at three a.m., with a buzz.
The brief
A cold pale blue rectangle floating on a deep navy ground with a thin band of white light at the horizon between them. Colour field abstract oil painting, two or three large soft-edged rectangles of colour floating on a coloured ground, edges feathered and bleeding, thin translucent layers glowing from within, monumental scale, no line, no figure, quiet emotional intensity, matte velvety surface with subtle brush drag. Museum photograph of the large oil painting, dim even gallery lighting, no frame, no text, no wall, no floor, cropped to the canvas edge.
Written to the house rules. The painter's name does not appear.
Take it home
The painting on this room's wall, at its own proportions, nothing written on it.
