[Woman and child]

This drawing is one of several depictions of a woman holding a child and may portray Sally Avery, the artist Milton Avery’s wife, and their daughter March, who was born October 12, 1932. Rothko’s subjects resemble the depictions of Sally, who had short dark hair, and March in drawings, paintings, and prints by Avery from around 1932/1933 (figs. 1, 2). If this is indeed March, then to judge from her apparent age, Rothko’s drawing likely dates from early 1933. He reprised this composition in several variants in watercolor (see Related Works on Paper).