Editing Mark Rothko (section)

===Technique===
With an absence of figurative representation, what drama there is to be found in a late Rothko is in the contrast of colors, radiating against one another. His paintings can then be likened to a sort of fugue-like arrangement, with each variation counterpoised against one another, yet all existing within one architectonic structure.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

To achieve this effect, Rothko applied a thin layer of a binder mixed with pigment directly onto uncoated and untreated canvas and  painted significantly thinned oils directly onto this layer, creating a dense mixture of overlapping colors and shapes. One of his objectives was to make the various layers of the painting dry quickly, without mixing of colors, so that he could soon create new layers on top of the earlier ones. His brushstrokes were fast and light, a method he would continue to use until his death.{{sfn|Breslin|1993|p=316–42}} His increasing adeptness at this method is apparent in the paintings completed for the chapel.

Rothko used several original techniques that he tried to keep secret even from his assistants. [[Electron microscopy]] and [[ultraviolet]] analysis conducted by the MOLAB showed that he employed natural substances such as egg and glue, as well as artificial materials including [[acrylic resin]]s, [[phenol formaldehyde]], modified [[alkyd]], and others.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Qiu |first=Jane |author-link=Jane Qiu |date=November 27, 2008 |title=Rothko's methods revealed |journal=Nature |volume=456 |issue=7221 |page=447 |bibcode=2008Natur.456..447Q |doi=10.1038/456447a |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 1968 Rothko, in declining health, began painting most of his large works in acrylic paint instead of oils.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017 |first=Karen |last=Kedmey |title=Mark Rothko |url=https://www.moma.org/artists/5047 |access-date=June 4, 2023 |website=The Museum of Modern Art}}</ref>