Standing Woman Looking Down, Hands Clasped 

Mark Rothko made this sketch, ‘Standing Woman Looking Down, Hands Clasped,’ using graphite on paper. Although Rothko is celebrated for his abstract paintings, he began his artistic career with figurative works such as this. The woman’s melancholic pose, coupled with the sketchy, unfinished quality of the drawing, convey the anxiety of interwar America. The Great Depression had a traumatic impact on the cultural psyche. Rothko and other first-generation abstract expressionists were influenced by Marxist ideas and social realism. They sought to challenge conservative, academic artistic institutions and to create art that was both politically engaged and addressed universal human emotions. Looking at archival documents, like letters and exhibition catalogues from this period, can provide insights into the political and aesthetic concerns that shaped Rothko’s early work. Art history reminds us that artistic expression is often rooted in the complex social, political, and cultural conditions of its time.