Untitled (May #2)

Artist Susan Rothenberg (American, 1945–2020)

Date1979

MediumSoft ground, aquatint, spit bite, and scraping

DimensionsImage: 29 1/2 x 22 inches (74.9 x 55.9 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of Steven Ames and Friends of the Museum

Terms

Animals
Horses

Object number98.126

Label CopySusan Rothenberg, Class of 1966, is most known for her images of horses. A key figure in the New Image Painting movement, Rothenberg’s work reintroduced the recognizable figure into painting after a decade of heavy conceptualism and abstraction. This is not to say that the work is purely “figurative,” however; Rothenberg takes a recognizable sign and distorts it so that what is familiar becomes foreign. This work may present a frontal view of a horse, but at the same time it shows an abstracted ovoid form. Like the work of Jasper Johns, an artist Rothenberg cites as an influence, Untitled (May #2) occupies an uneasy space, teetering between notions of figuration and abstraction, questioning if there really is a distinction between the two. ("Imprint/ In Print," curated by Nancy E. Green with assistance from Christian Waibel '17 and presented at the Johnson Museum August 8 - December 20, 2015)

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