Mark Rothko, Untitled,1949, Collection Kate Rothko PrizelLike many New York artists of his generation,
Rothko struggled with categorical distinctions between abstraction
and representation and his ambition to invest nonfigurative art
with transcendent content that would rival the elemental
role of myth and ritual in archaic culture. In this regard, "unknown"
pictorial space describes a realm that somehow surpasses two dimensions
while avoiding the illusive three-dimensional space of conventional
representation.
