Standing Figure in a Long Dress, Left Hand on Hip 

Mark Rothko made this pencil sketch of a standing figure, with her left hand on her hip, at an unknown date. The drawing seems simple, but its cultural context makes it thought-provoking. During the early 20th century, art institutions in the West grappled with modernism's challenge to traditional representation. Rothko, a Jewish immigrant in America, initially studied at the conservative National Academy of Design. But he would soon reject academic norms and co-found "The Ten," a group of artists united in their desire to defy conventional artistic standards. This sketch may be an early example of Rothko's drive to dismantle established ways of seeing, depicting the figure with crude, unidealized lines. Rothko's art challenges us to reconsider the social expectations and power structures embedded in aesthetic conventions. Art historians consult exhibition records, artists’ statements, and cultural ephemera to shed light on the social dynamics that shape art. This helps us understand art's meaning as something contingent on social and institutional contexts.