In the manner of Mark Rothko
American, 1903–1970
Untitled (Standby), 2026
Oil on canvas
250 × 200 cm
Never painted.
Commissioned for the collection, 2026.
PAB 2026.20.1
A great black rectangle hangs above a thin band of red, both floating on a charcoal ground. Stand close, as Rothko asked people to, and the black turns out to be several blacks, and the red glows faintly from underneath. It is the colour of a television in a dark room, off but not quite. Rothko's dark late paintings were a kind of vigil. So is standby.
The brief
A large soft-edged deep black rectangle above a thin glowing red rectangle on a charcoal 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.
