Still Life with Bread and Sugar Bowl 

Mark Rothko made this drawing, Still Life with Bread and Sugar Bowl, with pencil on paper. The objects depicted are markers of domesticity and middle-class life, but presented in a sparse and somewhat unsettling way. Made in the United States, Rothko's early works like this one reflect the influence of European modernism. The sketch-like quality and simplification of form nod to traditions of academic drawing, but the stark composition and empty background suggest a departure from conventional still life painting. Consider the cultural context of the time, with the rise of consumer culture and the increasing availability of mass-produced goods. Rothko seems to be investigating how these social changes shape the traditional roles of art. Is he critiquing the institutions of art by presenting them in such a raw way? The interpretation of art is always contingent on social and institutional context. Further investigation into Rothko's biography and the art market of the time would provide a deeper understanding of this work.