SECOND FLOOR GALLERIES
Susan Rothenberg, Wishbone, 1979. Acrylic and flashe on canvas. Anderson Collection at Stanford University, Gift of Sean Scully, 2024.1
Experience focused presentations of two celebrated artists—Susan Rothenberg and Robert Therrien. For the first time, visitors can view multiple works by each artist brought into focus in dedicated gallery spaces alongside accompanying photographic portraits by Leo Holub. From Rothenberg’s dynamic figuration to Therrien’s playful graphic and sculptural forms, these spotlights showcase the power and range of modern and contemporary American art.
About the Artists
Susan Rothenberg (1945–2020) was a trailblazing painter whose bold canvases reintroduced the figure into contemporary art at a time when abstraction dominated. Rising to prominence in the mid-1970s with her iconic horse-centered paintings, she forged a distinctive style that merged gestural brushwork, symbolic imagery, and psychological intensity. Over five decades, Rothenberg expanded her vocabulary to include fragments of the human body, animals, and everyday forms, always maintaining a raw immediacy that bridged abstraction and representation. Born in Buffalo, New York, she studied at Cornell University before moving to New York City, where her early exhibitions helped redefine painting for a new generation. Her work has been the subject of major retrospectives at institutions such as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Whitney Museum of American Art, securing her place as one of the most influential painters of her era. September 10, 2025 – ongoing.
Robert Therrien (1947–2019) was an artist celebrated for transforming ordinary objects into extraordinary encounters. Working in sculpture, painting, and drawing, he reimagined familiar forms—dishes stacked high, a giant folding table and chairs, or a simple red door—at a monumental scale that was both playful and uncanny. Therrien’s art invited viewers to reconsider the everyday, imbuing humble subjects with a sense of wonder, humor, and quiet mystery. Born in Chicago and based for much of his career in Los Angeles, he emerged in the 1970s and quickly became associated with a generation of artists expanding the possibilities of sculpture. His work has been exhibited internationally in museums and biennials, and is represented in major collections worldwide, affirming his reputation as a singular voice in contemporary art. September 10, 2025 – April 6, 2026.
