Two Seated Men 

Mark Rothko made this sketch, Two Seated Men, using graphite on paper. Rothko arrived in the United States as a young child fleeing political persecution, and this experience of displacement profoundly shaped his artistic vision. Although this is an early figurative work, we can see the artist grappling with existential themes that would later define his abstract expressionist pieces. Consider the body language of the two men; there is an emotional weight in their postures. We are left to wonder about their relationship to each other. Rothko’s figures often challenge conventional representations, offering instead a glimpse into the complexities of human emotion and identity. Rothko once said, "I'm not interested in relationships of color or form or anything else. I'm interested only in expressing basic human emotions—tragedy, ecstasy, doom." In this drawing, Rothko captures a moment of quiet intensity, inviting us to reflect on the shared human experience.