In approaching the dogmas of art history there is a perceived levity in creating art with a colored pencil, an interesting dichotomy within such a multifaceted but popular tool. As a historical artifact, we could look back to Pliny the Elder (not the beer, of course), who noted that the event the Romans used colored crayons based on wax, but it wasn’t until 1834 with the Staedtler company that what we know as the colored pencil was invented. Why these anecdotes are important is that in the works of Samantha Rosenwald, showing at Room 57 Gallery in NYC this winter with her solo show Christie’s, the colored pencil is used as both a historical tool and historical commentary.