Seated Nude Leaning to the Right, Arm Resting on Thigh 

Mark Rothko made this sketch, Seated Nude Leaning to the Right, Arm Resting on Thigh, with graphite on paper. Rothko is best known for his later abstract paintings, but this life drawing relates to the artist’s academic training. The nude was a popular subject in Western art academies during the first half of the 20th century. A life drawing class was the cornerstone of any serious art education in Europe and the US. But consider how the naked human body was regarded in that specific institutional setting. Was it an occasion to celebrate individual expression and sexual freedom? Or did it primarily enforce a rigid set of aesthetic standards? What implicit social hierarchies and power dynamics were at play in the classroom between teacher and student, artist and model, male and female? To explore these questions further, one could start by researching art school curricula, exhibition reviews, and artists’ biographies from the time. Art always reflects the social conditions and cultural norms of the time.