Sun, 10/23/2016 – Sun, 01/22/2017
Rodale Gallery
One of Philadelphia’s leading abstract painters of the late twentieth century, Warren Rohrer (1927–1995) was profoundly inspired by the rural landscape of nearby Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The language of his painting and drawing of the early 1990s is poetic in its ambiguity, an ambiguity filled with field and furrow, pictograph and palimpsest, rhythm, nature, and abstraction.
Warren Rohrer: The Language of Mark Making explored the mystery of Warren Rohrer’s late work, bringing together a unique selection from institutions and private collections throughout the country.
A catalogue accompanied the exhibition, with essays by art writer David Carrier and the Museum’s vice-president of curatorial and education, Elaine Mehalakes.
Field Downstream 1, 1990, oil on linen, 24 1/4 x 48 1/2 inches. Collection of Bayard and Frances Storey
Field: Language 4, 1991, oil on linen, 60 x 60 inches. Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Berton E. Korman
Studio Wall (22), 1993, silver pencil and ink on Rives 100% rag paper, 9 1/2 x 13 1/8 inches. Collection of Bayard and Frances Storey
Warren Rohrer: The Language of Mark Making was supported through the generosity of the Richard C. von Hess Foundation along with our season sponsors the Bernard and Audrey Berman Foundation, the Century Fund, the Harry C. Trexler Trust, the Julius and Katheryn Hommer Foundation, the Leon C. and June W. Holt Endowment, the Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation, the Rider-Pool Foundation, Rodale, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Friends of the Museum. The concurrent publication of the book Warren Rohrer has been supported through the generosity of the Dietrich Foundation, Inc.