In his effort to express elemental human concerns by transcending the narrative or figurative, Rothko observed that "the familiar identity of things has to be pulverized in order to destroy the finite association with which our society increasingly enshrouds every aspect of our environment." The artist developed a unique compositional structure in which two or three horizontal bands divide a large, primarily vertical canvas. He used this highly structured, reductive format in a sustained manner from 1950 until his death by suicide in 1970.

Works like this one epitomize what Rothko was looking for when he asserted the power of "the simple expression of the complex thought." The highly reduced format allows color to attain a transcendent expression. But while the forms are reduced, they are not geometric. Edges and boundaries are soft, frayed, feathered—merging imperceptibly as one ethereal field of color transitions into another expanse. The effect is almost halo-like. The luminosity is achieved with translucent veils of diluted pigment, sometimes applied with rags and sponges rather than brushes. In some areas, the paint is scumbled; in other zones, it acts as a stain, saturating the canvas's fibers. The simplification of means and structure is designed, not as a formal exercise, but as a vehicle to experience powerful, unverbalized emotion and revelation. Scale contributed, too, in enveloping the viewer and thereby creating a palpable and intimate experience. Rothko stressed the potential for such elemental impact, suggesting that his viewers could experience a kind of "religious experience": "The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them. I'm interested only in expressing basic human emotions—tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on—and the fact that lots of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I communicate those basic human emotions."

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