Woman Reclining on Sofa 

Here we see a drawing of a woman reclining on a sofa, sketched by Mark Rothko with graphite on paper. Her pose, a figure at rest, is a tale as old as art itself, echoing images of Venus or Danaë. Consider how the reclining figure, from antiquity to the Renaissance, often symbolized leisure, luxury, and sometimes vulnerability. This motif reappears across millennia; Titian's Venus of Urbino, for example, shares with our figure a similar posture, yet differs vastly in its intent. The relaxed pose, a timeless representation of contemplation and repose, engages viewers on a subconscious level, drawing on our collective memory of such images. Observe also the cyclical nature of symbols; the reclining figure may shed its classical or mythological skin, but its psychological and emotional power persists, resurfacing in the modern era, transformed yet familiar.