During this early stage, Markham also supported herself by making book jackets and illustrations and later working as an art director for film companies like Fox and Metro.

[4] In 1927, she married David Gaither[4] and collaborated with him on the set design for a children's play, The Forest Ring, staged at the Roerich Museum Theatre in 1930.

[6] In recognition of her work, Markham received the prestigious Mary S. Collins Prize at the Philadelphia Print Club's annual exhibition the following year for her lithograph Elin and Maria (1934).

[4] Markham stopped making prints after moving to her remote Vermont farm, but continued to work in more accessible mediums such as painting, drawing and ceramics.

[9] Like Markham, many other artists working in this style, such as Mabel Dwight, Reginald Marsh, Elizabeth Olds, Caroline Durieux, and Russell Limbach, used lithography as a vehicle to employ humor and satire of daily life.

[9] Often categorized as social realism, Markham's work presents extracted scenes from everyday life in a dramatic manner, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.

[7] Markham's work explored the incredible and grim aspects of modern society with a strong interest in labor themes, like much of the socially concerned art of the 1930s.

[8] Markham emphasizes the dancers confidence, workplace solidarity, and relaxed interactions – allowing viewers to see the Burlesque in a new light and shifting the mood from tantalizing to lighthearted amusement.

[8] Although many of her prints depict scenes of entertainment, whether backstage in the dressing room or performing under the spotlight, Markham is also interested in other leisure activities such as attending lively night clubs and social gatherings.