In the year of its 30th anniversary, the Kunsthalle Krems presents the first solo exhibition by the American artist Susan Rothenberg (1945-2020) in Austria. The painter is considered a pioneer of neo -expressionism. Her works contributed to the revival of figurative painting in the 1970s and 1980s and significantly shaped art history. With her work, Rothenberg paved the way for a new expressive visual language and inspired a generation of artists: inside.
With 31 works from five decades, the retrospective gives a deep insight into their multifaceted work from all the creative phases. Dynamic brush stroke and emotional intensity determine your paintings. You can see Rothenberg’s early horse pictures and work from the 1980s that document their further development towards human characters and movement studies. The late work includes pictures of puppets and realistic-painting animal representations. Susan Rothenberg celebrated her 80th birthday in 2025.
Florian Steininger, artistic director of the Kunsthalle Krems: „Susan Rothenberg’s work is an important part of modern painting. Their innovative dealings with figure and space, their expressive coloring and their deep examination of movement and physicality make them one of the most influential artists: inside their time. The Krems exhibition recognizes Rothenberg as a pioneer of modern figurative painting.
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“Horse Paintings” as milestones in neo -expressionism
Susan Rothenberg started her career in the late 1960s in New York, where she was looking for new forms of expression in a scene dominated by minimalism and concept art. In the 1970s, she created monumental horse pictures that reminded of prehistoric cave paintings and marked their development in figurative painting. Her “Horse Paintings”, which were first shown in 1974, mark the transition from the abstract to figurative-expressionist painting and were celebrated as a milestone.
In 1978 Rothenberg took the exhibition New Image Painting part in the Whitney Museum of American Art. The show introduced artists: inside who deliberately turned away from the abstraction and pursued new figurative approaches. Rothenberg was the leading voice of this movement. In 1982 she was the only woman next to artists such as Georg Baselitz, Anselm Kiefer and Julian Schnabel in the important exhibition Zeitgeist represented in Berlin. This show consolidated Rothenberg’s position as a pioneer of neo -expressionism also internationally.
New Mexico, late work and puppet pictures
In the 1990s, Rothenberg moved to a ranch with her husband, the concept artist Bruce Nauman, Galisteo, New Mexico. As a result, she increasingly turned to nature and animal motifs and developed a freer, gestural painting. In the late work of Rothenberg, puppets and fragmented human bodies come to the fore. Her work remained both personally and universal.
Significant loan
The exhibition in the Kunsthalle Krems combines loans from important institutions such as the Hall Art Foundation, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Significant private collections and the Sperone Westwater Gallery, which have been accompanying Rothenberg’s work for decades, also contribute.
30 years of Kunsthalle Krems
The exhibition Susan Rothenberg is the start of the 30th anniversary of the Kunsthalle Krems. With the opening of the exhibition house on March 31, 1995, the cornerstone of the Krems art mile was laid as the competence center of fine arts in Lower Austria. 30 years and 240 exhibitions later, the Kunsthalle Krems positioned itself far beyond the German -speaking area as an international, contemporary exhibition house. In the anniversary year 2025, a comprehensive accompanying and supporting program invited you to get to know the Kunsthalle Krems and important artistic positions.
Details under: www.kunstmeile.at/30jahrekunsthalle
SUSAN ROTHENBERG
05.04.2025 – 02.11.2025
Opening: Fri, 04.04.2025, 7 p.m.
Kunsthalle Krems, Museumsplatz 5, 3500 Krems on the Danube
Press area:
https://www.kunstmeile.at/de/presse/kunsthalle
Media information for 30 years of Kunsthalle Krems:
https://www.kunstmeile.at/de/presse/kunsthalle#allgemeine-informationen
Press photos:
https://celum.noeku.at/pinaccess/pinaccess.do?pinCode=SusanRothenberg
Photos for the opening (online on 04.04.2025 from 10 p.m.):
https://www.apa-fotoservice.at/galerie/39058