An introduction to the famous horse paintings that positioned Rothenberg as a virtuoso of 1970s American figuration

Susan Rothenberg’s (1945-2020) iconic horse paintings of the 1970s brought her much acclaim as a young painter and offered the artist an apt vehicle for her expressive gesture and keen understanding of the picture plane. This pivotal series remains the work for which Rothenberg is best known, and this in-depth volume offers readers the opportunity to explore these works alongside a foreword by artist Joan Jonas, an interview with artist Mary Heilmann and an essay by curator and scholar Michael Auping. As critic Hilton Kramer famously wrote of her work in Artforum in 1977, Rothenberg … has combined the elements of Degas’ horses with Barnett Newman’s vertical ‘zips.’ Which is an interesting combination of elements, to say the least. But it is in the quality of the painting itself that this artist makes her deepest impression. It was on the basis of these works that Rothenberg was featured in the seminal New Image Painting exhibition of 1974.