Head and Shoulders of a Figure Wearing Eyeglasses 

This work is a pen and ink drawing on paper, made by Mark Rothko sometime in his career. The quick, expressive marks are made using a very simple technology; pen, ink and paper are an accessible technology to almost everyone. Yet this simple combination has been a foundational technology in creative expression and knowledge production for centuries. There is a directness and immediacy to the lines that capture the character’s features. We can see how the character's eyeglasses, though simple circles, hide the figure's eyes, and the hatching gives them a sense of opacity. The gestural nature of the drawing, with its visible strokes and varying line weights, shows the artist's hand at work, capturing a fleeting moment or impression. Rothko, later known for his color field paintings, here embraces the graphic potential of stark black lines on white paper to convey form, personality, and expression. Looking at drawings like these, one can gain a greater appreciation of the artist's practice. It is a reminder that the value and meaning of a work are not solely determined by its materials, but by the artist’s vision, skill, and the context in which it was created.