Artwork · 1956 · Abstract painting

Orange and Yellow

1956 · Oil on Canvas
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
★ 6.9 editorial score

Two luminous rectangles - a glowing orange above, a softer yellow below - float on a pale ground, their edges feathered and indistinct so that the colors seem to pulse and hover. Mark Rothko built such canvases from thin, layered washes to create a sense of inner light, intending them to provoke deep emotion and quiet contemplation. Now in Buffalo, Orange and Yellow is a serene example of his classic style - warm, radiant, and meditative, pure color released from all imagery and offered as an immersive field meant to move the viewer beyond words.