Signed and showing evidence of having been overmatted, this work was likely exhibited during Rothko’s lifetime, possibly in the artist’s first solo show, at Contemporary Arts in New York in November 1933, which included a monochromatic work on paper with the title Man Standing. What appears to be a vague outline of a grand piano in the background invites speculation: this could be a portrait of Rothko’s pianist friend from Portland, Gordon Soule, who moved to New York City in 1926; he and Rothko shared an apartment there in 1927.