SUSAN ROTHENBERG | Elizabeth

Willard Gallery, New York
Collection of Edward R. Downe, Jr., New York
Vivian Horan Fine Art, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in December 1992

Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection, Susan Rothenberg, September - November 1985, p. 6, illustrated
Wellesley College Museum, 1976-1986: Ten Years of Collecting Contemporary American Art, The Edward R. Downe Jr. Collection, November 1986 - January 1987

Joan Simon, Susan Rothenberg, New York 1991, p. 132

This work is in very good condition overall. The areas of raised impasto are stable and intact. Under Ultraviolet inspection, there is no evidence of restoration. Unframed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

"While Rothenberg's earlier works were largely monochromatic and still, the new series, representing two years of work, are filled with color and movement…the forms vibrate, as they might in successive frames of a film. The colors may be as dark as a Norwegian night by Edvard Munch, or as sweet as a Provencal interior by Pierre Bonnard. As Rothenberg enters more deeply in figurative territory, she is being introduced to ghosts of European art that may have haunted her painting all along...Basic aspects of her work remain the same. The space is almost liquid; all the figures seem to be under water…There continues to be a hallucinatory quality to Rothenberg's imagery…And brushwork is more persistent than ever, covering the paintings, leaving no area of the canvas without sound...a tough, heart-of-darkness quality—as if these individual and collective rhythms were pounding inside us.”
Michael Brenson, “Art: A New Direction for Susan Rothenberg,” New York Times, 23 October, 1987, p. C34