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"Feverishly working on unusually large-format sheets in 1968-69, Rothko wrested a variety of astonishing expressive possibilities from the acrylic medium. The dark, subdued palette that dominated his canvases of the period was found in the majority of these works on paper as well. Blackish-blue over deep violet, dark blues and greens dominated and emphasized the careful proportions of the interior surfaces hovering over an occasionally luminous, advancing ground. Alternating chalky opacity and glossy effects enlivened the visual play of the otherwise plain gradations in these works, that challenge the viewer to extended contemplation. Rothko's former seductive plasticity metamorphosed into a confrontational wall whose subtle translucencies reveal themselves only through a concentrated attempt to overcome and penetrate it."

(O. Wick, "Mark Rothko, Seeing Blind and Drawing as Remembrance Commemorated," in Galerie Beyeler, Mark Rothko, Works on Paper 1930-1969, exh. cat. Basel, 2005, p. 29.)