In the manner of Mark Rothko
American, 1903–1970
Untitled (Sunset, Air Quality Poor), 2026
Oil on canvas
250 × 200 cm
Never painted.
Commissioned for the collection, 2026.
PAB 2026.20.3
A hazy pink-orange rectangle floats above a murky violet-grey one, on a ground the colour of dust. It is beautiful, and it is beautiful for a bad reason. Rothko's glowing colours were meant to hold something eternal. These are the colours you get over a motorway in August, when the air is poor, and they move people just as much. That is the uncomfortable part.
The brief
A hazy pink-orange rectangle over a murky violet-grey rectangle on a dusty tan ground. 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.
