Painter Susan Rothenberg, known for figurative horse motifs and movement, dies at 75

Susan Rothenberg, the painter who countered 1970s abstraction with restrained figuration, has died. Her 1975 debut solo exhibition at 112 Greene Street featured just three horse paintings, establishing an early motif she would replicate in silhouette. These equine images appeared in major shows like New Image Painting at the Whitney Museum in 1978 and Zeitgeist at Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau in 1982. Rothenberg's subjects—horses, birds, dancers, body parts—were consistently depicted in motion, characterized by sparse detail. In 1984, she described her work as challenging viewers, almost repelling them with its stiffness and gassiness. That same year, a traveling survey of her work opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art before moving to London's Tate Gallery. During the 1990s, she exhibited alongside artists like David Salle and Julian Schnabel, with critic Peter Schjeldahl praising her as one of the world's most convincing artists. Rothenberg married sculptor George Trakas in 1971 after meeting during a performance by Joan Jonas; they divorced in 1979, and she married Bruce Nauman in 1989. Her later inspiration came from their New Mexico ranch environment. Notably, her 1976 painting Butterfly was selected by Barack Obama for display in the White House.