Woman Seated in Armchair, Right Hand on Armrest, Left Hand in Lap 

This ink drawing by Mark Rothko depicts a woman seated in an armchair, her right hand resting on the armrest, and her left hand in her lap. The hands, often carriers of deep psychological meaning, are especially striking here. Consider the gesture of the hand in the lap, a motif that echoes through art history. We might recall Dürer's "Melancholia I," where the figure's slumped posture and idle hand signify a deep contemplation, even despair. This motif resurfaces again and again - a silent language of inward reflection. Here, Rothko's loose lines and stark depiction of the woman's posture might evoke a sense of ennui, or perhaps a moment of quiet contemplation. The hand's placement becomes a mirror reflecting the subject's internal state. These gestures persist across centuries, carrying the weight of human emotion and experience, evolving yet forever tethered to our collective memory.