Abstract Expressionism & Color Field · 1953
Untitled (Purple, White, and Red)
Still in copyright: the image isn't shown, only the colors measured from it.
Untitled (Purple, White, and Red) (1953) by Mark Rothko. Its palette is led by dark crimson sienna (#533d52, 33%) and light sand (#ab9b81, 24%), with accents of pale grey and scarlet red. Overall the canvas is mid-toned, vivid and warm.
Color note
Rothko built his fields of color from thin, layered washes, so the edges blur and the color seems to glow from within. He wanted viewers to stand close, surrounded by the color.
Palette
- #533d52 MG 144 dark crimson sienna 32.9% of canvas
- #ab9b81 MG 181 light sand 24.2% of canvas
- #8f1d21 MG 020 dark red 21.8% of canvas
- #907f6e MG 174 warm grey 13.5% of canvas
- #c2c7c2 MG 212 pale grey 4.4% of canvas
- #b16654 MG 016 scarlet red 3.3% of canvas
Color families
Brown 50%, Red 23%, Gray 14%, Purple 7%, Blue 5%
Measurements
Composition
51% of the visual weight is in the left half, 68% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.84 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 77% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 27% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.
Details
More by Mark Rothko
- Number 19, 1949
- Untitled (Painting), 1953–1954