Underground Fantasy, 1940
Mark Rothko painted underground fantasy, 1940. It is a unique painting, as one has to study it carefully to perceive the painter’s thoughts. The colouring consists of an inner part of a building. The walls of the building have a beige colour. On one wall, there is a bluish sign with the letter B painted on it. Inside the building stand six people. They are all adults. Four of the people are young ladies. In the left half of the painting, a lady is walking towards a tall man in a black suit. The man also has a hat. He seems to be between the age of 30 and 40 years old. The man stands as he reads a newspaper. The man is the only non-hispanic white. The young lady walks to him from his right side. She wears a beige dress with black heels. Mark portrays her walking, humbly as if she wants to approach the man and have him notice her.
On the other half of the painting, the four people stand there. There are two wooden poles in this section of the room. One lady also in a dress, leans on one post as she looks to her right. She has her hands on her waist, and she also looks furious. Mark portrays her as though she is contemplating how unfair something is. It is as if she is angry not having what she wants. She looks at a man leaning on the other pole with a woman in front of him. The man and the woman are very close to each other. They seem to look at each other seductively. As you look at them, you can perceive that the woman wants the man, and she is opening herself to him. Closely to their right is the last lady. She looks at the man as though to say, “I also want you if you do not want her, look at me”.
Mark seems to show women wanting men for themselves in the painting. The current location of the colouring is the United States. One reason behind it is the clothes worn by people in the early 19th century. Men wearing suits and women in dresses that slightly cover the knees. Mark shows women looking for love and attention. He names the painting an underground fantasy. He seems to indicate the truth behind the veil (what you see in the natural) as his fantasy. In this fantasy, women are searching for love and want men to fulfil that for them.