Dorothea Rockburne

Dorothea Rockburne is a Canadian abstract painter whose work is deeply inspired by her profound interest in mathematics and astronomy.

Biography of Dorothea Rockburne

Dorothea Rockburne was born in 1932 in Montreal, Canada. In 1950, Rockburne moved to the United States to attend Black Mountain College, where she studied with mathematician Max Dehn, who became a lifelong influence on her work. There, she also studied with Franz Kline, Philip Guston, John Cage, and Merce Cunningham, and met fellow student Robert Rauschenberg.

In 1955, Rockburne moved to New York City, where she connected with many of the leading artists and poets of the time. 

In 1958, a solo show of her work received critical and financial success, but Rockburne herself considered it "not good enough." Consequently, she did not publicly exhibit her work for over a decade, instead turning her attention to dance and performance art by 1960.

In 2002, she received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. In 2009, Rockburne was named an Honorary Vice President of the National Association of Women Artists. In 2016, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Mathematics from Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

Her work has been celebrated in several major survey exhibitions over the past decade. Notable exhibitions include "Giotto’s Angels & Knots" at David Nolan Gallery in New York (2021-2022), "Dorothea Rockburne" at Dia:Beacon in Beacon, NY (2018-2022), "Dorothea Rockburne: Drawing Which Makes Itself" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY (2013-2014), and "In My Mind’s Eye" at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, NY (2011). 

Rockburne's works have been showcased in numerous significant group exhibitions, including at the Met Breuer in New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and internationally at venues such as the Venice Biennale and Documenta in Kassel, Germany. Her works are part of prestigious collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, among others.

Rockburne currently lives and works in New York City.

Dorothea Rockburne's Art Style

Drawing inspiration primarily from her deep interest in mathematics and astronomy, Rockburne creates geometric and abstract work that appears simple but is meticulously precise, reflecting the mathematical concepts she seeks to visualize. Her attraction to Mannerism also influences her art. Throughout her career, she has produced paintings that express mathematical ideas.

Rockburne's series of installations, "Set Theories," includes works like "Intersection," which merges two of her other pieces, "Group" and "Disjunction," to illustrate the concept of intersection. This series later led her to experiment with new concepts and materials, such as Gold Section and carbon paper.