Seated Woman with Object in Her Lap 

This sketch of a seated woman with an object in her lap was made by Mark Rothko, though we don't have a confirmed date for it. The drawing's simplicity, its clear and unaffected lines, may seem far removed from Rothko’s later, iconic abstract paintings. But the woman in the drawing does evoke the timelessness and quiet contemplation of the figures in religious art. It is tempting to speculate on the place of the artist and the art institution. Does it comment on its own time, and is it conservative, progressive, or does it critique the institutions of art? To understand such an image more fully, the art historian would investigate a range of resources, from biographical information about the artist and the social and cultural context in which he lived, to details about the institutions that supported his artistic training. The meaning of art is always contingent on such factors.