Untitled (Seated Woman with Crossed Legs) c. 1935

This portrait, "Untitled (Seated Woman with Crossed Legs)," was painted by Mark Rothko using gouache on paper. Here, the materials and process are deceptively simple: gouache being an opaque watercolor, easily worked and reworked on the page. But see how Rothko deploys it. The pigments are brushed on in broad, confident strokes, which give the image a palpable sense of mass and volume. The sitter almost seems hewn from stone, monumental despite the modest scale of the work. Rothko’s touch is key to imbuing the painting with social significance. The rough handling of the medium, combined with the mundane subject matter, suggests a world of labor and everyday life, far removed from the rarefied realm of fine art. The lack of finish implies a directness and honesty, connecting the work to broader issues of labor, politics, and the simple act of observation. Ultimately, "Untitled (Seated Woman with Crossed Legs)" encourages us to consider the artist's hand and the context of its making, blurring the lines between art, craft, and the human experience.