No. 16 — Fine Art

No. 16 - 1957 by Mark Rothko shows two large colour fields sitting one above the other on the sheet.

The top field is a deep maroon and the lower field is a blackish brown. The edges where the tones meet are blurred, so the bands feel like they breathe into each other. A fine art print set in a frame with a back panel holds this image.

The matte surface keeps the dark tones flat and dull, so the colours do not glare under a lamp. Mark Rothko worked in this colour field style, laying broad painted rectangles on raw canvas. The framed print hangs on the wall in a study, where the dark fields sit quiet above a desk and the blurred edges keep the shapes from feeling sharp.