PhxArtist Spotlight: Rotraut

R O T R A U T

Renowned abstract artist Rotraut has many names. In 1938, she was born Rotraut Uecker, and when she married internationally acclaimed artist Yves Klein in 1962, she became Rotraut Klein. Then in 1968, six years after Yves Klein’s passing at the age of 34, Rotraut found love again and married curator Daniel Moquay, taking the name Rotraut Klein-Moquay.

Today, she prefers to be known simply as Rotraut. “I’m proud Deriving inspiration from the nourishing quality, harmony, and violence of all my names,” she said, “but with my art, I think it’s good of nature, Rotraut’s abstract paintings, sculptures, and other works seek to just be yourself. All of these names are powerful and have to explore humanity’s physical, spiritual, and emotional connection to lives of their own, but I like to just do my life and be me, not too much the Earth and the infinite universe. Her first highly acclaimed exhibition attached to everything else.” And so, Rotraut it is. was presented at the New Vision Centre Gallery in London, and since Originally from Germany, the Valley-based contemporary artist moved to Phoenix in the early 1980s. At the time, she, Moquay, and their three boys, the oldest of whom is from Rotraut’s first marriage to Klein, had just welcomed a fourth child and daughter to their family, and Rotraut wanted her to “grow up in the sun.” She and Moquay first then, she has participated in several solo and group exhibitions and art fairs in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. In 2016, the Jena University of Sciences in Germany organized a large retrospective of her work, which is represented in numerous public collections in the United States and Europe in addition to private collections all over the world. considered Israel or California for their new home, but after speaking We recently spoke with Rotraut, whose work Blue Galaxy (1989) with someone who had lived in Tempe, they eventually settled in is currently on view in Stories of Abstraction: Contemporary Latin Phoenix in 1982, in a house that Rotraut still lives in today and loves American Art in the Global Context through March 7, 2021, to learn dearly. In fact, she’s been known to paint large-scale works on the about her journey to becoming an artist, her fluid process, and her ground just outside of the garage. unending fascination with the cosmos.

I’m like a kid. I love using wet paint and putting my hands in it, being really close and moving it. My work is very physical. I try to keep the intellect away and not think too much. I think when I analyze everything beforehand, but when I’m working, I just flow.”

ROTRAUT

HERE’S ROTRAUT, IN HER OWN WORDS. PhxArt: Tell us about where you’re from. Where did you grow up?

Rotraut: I was born in eastern Germany in the north on a peninsula called Wustrow. There were not many houses, and ours was really in nature, surrounded by water with a big sky and lots of stars. I was always dreaming with my father; at night we would watch the sky, and I was always traveling with my mind, searching. Nature there was really powerful. When you woke up, you’d hear the waves, and then you’d go to sleep with the waves. There were strong winters, and the water would freeze; we sometimes had icebergs on the ocean when everything would melt and come together. But there were also beautiful sunsets and sunrises and the moon, and you have this horizon. The horizon always had big meaning for me. I wanted to know what was behind it—I always wanted to go further, into space and around the Earth. I was always very much connected to that space—it was part of my home, and I’m still very connected to the Earth, people, animals, and plants. It’s all such a wonder, and I think with my art, I was always looking for this kind of wonder.

PhxArt: What first inspired you to become an artist?

Rotraut: My brother was an artist, and he was always painting beautiful landscapes where the sun was shining on the water and reflecting it. He did it just with normal crayon, and it came out really beautifully. I was always watching him. He was still in the academy studying, doing woodprints and drawings, and I really wished I could create an artwork and be able to print it. I asked him, and he told me how I could dig into the wood to make whatever I wanted. But when I tried, I couldn’t really handle the knife. It was a special knife and very sharp, and I thought, “I don’t like this digging.” I liked digging with my mind, into scientific thoughts and dreams, but I didn’t like digging into the wood. I thought maybe I could put something on top of the wood instead, so I used flour and water to make a mix. I put it on very freely, and then when it was dry, I painted it all black and did my print. I was so excited. At the end, when I looked at my relief, it was even more interesting because I thought it looked like roots, and roots always fascinated me, like when big trees fell down and all the roots came up, and how they grow over streets. They are so powerful and represent struggle and life, and I thought my drawing really looked a little like that. I would say that moment was the root of my sculpture because it’s the same sort of technique I used later with plaster. It was also the moment when I knew that I wanted to do this my entire life. I felt it in myself—it felt so good I could almost cry from happiness.

PhxArt: What are the topics and realities you explore in your art?

Rotraut: What is most important to my art is the oneness of everything in my environment, and that’s not just the environment close to me, but also the cosmos. I often think how far I can dream, and I will look at Hubble Telescope photos to see what is out there. I’ve created galaxy paintings and sun paintings, and I’ve painted black holes and eclipses. But I never look at the photographs to try and paint the same image. I always paint freely. It just comes out and flows, and it’s so magical and surprising. I have always seen life—us and the cosmos—as a miracle, a happy accident. We sit just close enough to the sun to create all this life on Earth, including plants and animals, which come out in my art later in sculptures.

PhxArt: Did you ever have any interest in realism, or were you always drawn to abstraction?

Rotraut: No, I never wanted to do what my brother was doing. I admired him and respected his work, but that was not for me. I was more interested in drawing inspiration from the outside and seeing how my own self could process that and get it out.

PhxArt: Tell us about your process. How do you approach creating an artwork?

Rotraut: I work a little bit like a river—it just flows, and I go with my feelings. It’s very strange how things evolve when you just let go and follow your desire and do it. You change techniques and tools and materials, whatever helps you to express yourself, and when you do, you love it. I’m like a kid. I love using wet paint and putting my hands in it, being really close and moving it. My work is very physical. I try to keep

FROM PAGE 28 distinctive qualities similar to paintings and sculptures, these artists, building upon earlier generations of printmakers, made printmaking into a legitimate form of art itself.”

In addition to exploring this evolution of purpose, Out of Print also seeks to underscore the importance of women artists in that history. While the installation features works by the likes of Leopoldo Méndez and Paul Klee, the vast majority from the Museum’s American art collection in particular are by women artists, including Mary Cassatt, Käthe Kollwitz, Clare Leighton, Lee Bontecou, Isabel Bishop, and Mary Nimmo Moran, the wife of Thomas Moran who began printmaking as a hobby while she traveled across the United States with her husband as he painted vast landscapes.

“It was important for me to provide our audiences with a more accurate and comprehensive narrative of the history of printmaking, which includes women and artists of color,” said Sadvary Zebro. “By doing so, I hope to open the door to conversations about how these artists were integral to the innovation and development of various printmaking techniques

ROTRAUT

that contemporary artists are still using today.”

Mary Cassatt, for example, who joined the Impressionist group at the invitation of Edgar Degas, made her first prints in the late 1870s. Cassatt often portrayed women with children, female figures in repose, and other traditional subjects, yet her approach to printmaking was fearless. She experimented with various media, including copper printing plates, and created a body of work that, in addition to her Impressionist paintings, is characterized by stunning color prints of technical mastery.

Works by Käthe Kollwitz, many of which have never before been on view, are also exhibited alongside Cassatt’s. Kollwitz was formerly trained as a painter but later turned to etchings, sculpture, lithography, and woodcuts. Her graphic prints, with their concise, unadorned visual language, present stark images of labor protests, war, mourning, and women in despair and solitude that inspire both deep contemplation and deep compassion.

“Beginning in the 19th century, artists started to use printmaking to create works of social commentary that deeply engaged with topics of politics and culture, including societal changes driven by the Industrial Revolution,” said Sadvary Zebro, “Kollwitz’s works are strong examples of this.”

In addition to this historical perspective, however, Out of Print also provides the opportunity to consider how contemporary artists like Maria Baca, Raymond Saunders, Fritz Scholder, and even Keith Haring, whose 2006 Jacket for Adicolor Series Track Suit showcases the technique of silk-screening on cotton, have contributed to the tradition of printmaking. Through this juxtaposition of contemporary works alongside historical examples, Out of Print drives home a clear narrative—that the long and complex history of printmaking is one that continues to evolve into the 21st century, thanks to artists who keep pushing technical boundaries to more holistically examine modern-day realities.

Out of Print: Innovations of 19th- and 20th-Century Printmaking from the Collection of Phoenix Art Museum and the Schorr Collection is organized by Phoenix Art Museum. It is made possible through the generosity of David and Hannah Lewis. The long-term loan of the Schorr Collection was made possible through the generous support of Friends of European Art, a former support group of Phoenix Art Museum; Nancy Hanley Eriksson; and Mary and Bill Way.

FROM PAGE 31 the intellect away and not think too much. I think when I analyze everything beforehand, but when I’m working, I just flow.

PhxArt: One of your large-scale galaxy paintings, Blue Galaxy (1989), is currently on view in the Museum’s special-engagement exhibition Stories of Abstraction: Contemporary Latin American Art in the Global Context. What was it like creating these galaxy paintings, and what inspired this one in particular?

Rotraut: I loved to make my galaxy paintings. I could do these all of my life, but it’s too tough now with the dropping and my elbows that I’ve had to stop creating the big ones. But I loved making them because they always took me somewhere else again and again.

I like the challenge of working with big surfaces. When I was nine, my family bought a farm in the middle of Wustrow, and my father and brother worked the land with big areas to manage, so I’ve always been interested in getting my body involved to work with big surfaces, too. You have this instinct, this spirit in your body that helps you know the hour, the weather, without having to really think or pay too much attention. But I’m also very attracted to the immaterial, like energy. When scientists discovered the immaterial in the cosmos, it fascinated me. It’s not just nothing out there—it’s active—and I was happy to learn this because by then, I had been repeating these forms and ideas in my work for a long time already. I worked with concentrated energy to create my galaxy paintings, just focusing everything within myself to then push out movement and super strong magic with my hands. It’s almost like creating life and behavior. Blue Galaxy (1989) was inspired from a trip to Lake Powell. When we moved to Arizona, my family and I took a trip and stayed on a houseboat. One evening, I went up to see the sky, and we put a mattress on the roof and laid down. It was amazing how close the stars and the Milky Way felt. I had never seen them like that in my life. And then there was a meteorite shower, and that was really powerful. To create Blue Galaxy, I painted the base first in black and then I rolled ultramarine blue with around 5% of dark violet over it. Later, when it was still wet, I blew black crystals over the whole surface, and then I did my dropping.

PhxArt: Why do you think art, and in particular abstract art, is important for contemporary and future audiences?

Rotraut: Art is like the seasons, like nature. It’s always changing just as the Earth itself is always changing, always evolving, always moving forward. New winds come through, and different moments give us different art.

But art will always stay, whatever we name it. It’s always with us, like our ancestors and our deities. We can keep it, and it will always give us something in return.

And it’s so much more than just the image—it’s the immaterial, what’s inside, the feelings we get from looking at or experiencing art. Art will always be important. People need it like they need food. Often they don’t know it, but they do need it.

To learn more about Rotraut and her work, visit rotraut.com/en. To see one of the artist’s galaxy paintings, visit Stories of Abstraction: Contemporary Latin American Art in the Global Context, on view at Phoenix Art Museum now through March 7, 2021.

Virginia Galvin Piper valued the arts and understood their power to be healing and lifechanging. Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust is so proud to continue her legacy of supporting artsand-culture organizations in Maricopa County, such as Phoenix Art Museum. Through its range of world-class exhibitions, engaging formats, and compassionate art programs, this Museum can transform our thoughts, inspire our actions, and provide connections to the past, present, and future. It is a destination to cherish as it continues to serve generations.

VIRGINIA G. PIPER CHARITABLE TRUST Supporting Phoenix Art Museum for decades

image credit: Courtesy of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust.

THANK YOU

Phoenix Art Museum gratefully acknowledges the generosity of our Circles of Support donors, whose annual gifts benefit our exhibitions, educational programs, and services for the community. Please Note: This list recognizes those Circles donors who have made a gift between September 1 and November 30, 2020. Institutional donors, 21st Century Society members, Corporate Council members, and Museum Members at the Fellow level will be mentioned once a year in the Summer/Fall issue of PhxArt Magazine.

DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE $25,000+ Allison and Robert Bertrand

TRUSTEE’S CIRCLE $10,000+ Anonymous (2) °Roberta Aidem *Ruben and Shelley Alvarez Jett and Julia Anderson *Alice and Jim Bazlen Laurie and *Drew Brown Deborah G. Carstens *Gloria and Philip Cowen *Harold Dorenbecher and Mary Heiss The Dorrance Family Foundation *Carter and Susan Emerson *Robert and Micheline Faver *Mark and Diana Feldman *David and Caroline Garcia *Judy and Bill Goldberg … *John and Kathleen Graham *Mrs. Nancy Hanley Eriksson *Jon and Carrie Hulburd *Jane and Mal Jozoff *Ellen and Howard C. Katz *Dr. Parvinder Jit Singh Khanuja and Parveen Kaur Khanuja *Don Kile Judy and *Alan Kosloff °Richard and *Sally Lehmann *David and Dawn Lenhardt Jan and Tom Lewis *Ann Ocana *Sally A. Odegard Dr. and *Mrs. Hong-Kee Ong The Opatrny Family Foundation *Blair and Lisa Portigal *Kim and Steve Robson *Paige Rothermel *Sue and Bud Selig *Ms. Ann Siner *Robert R. Taylor *Carl and Marilynn Thoma Charles and *Meredith von Arentschildt CURATOR’S CIRCLE $5,000+ Anonymous °John and Oonagh Boppart Betsy and Kent Bro Richard and Ann Carr Katherine and Charles Case Pam Del Duca Jane and Andrew Evans °Dr. and Mrs. Meryl Haber Judith Hardes Carol and Kenneth Kasses Diane and Larry McComber Pat and Keith McKennon Robert and Myra Page Matthew and Mary Palenica Timothy Schwimer Iris and °Adam Singer °Angela and Leonard Singer Nancy Swanson °Gary and Diane Tooker °Gilbert Waldman and Christy Vezolles °Mr. and Mrs. William G. Way °Mr. and Mrs. Louis A. Weil III BENEFACTOR’S CIRCLE $2,500+ Anonymous Philip and Lydia Bell Robert M. Dixon Jim and Betsy Donley Paul Giancola and Carrie Lynn Richardson Chip and Janet Glaser Victoria and Rod Granberry Dean and Taylor Griffin Beverly N. Grossman Jeanne and °Gary Herberger John and Susan Horseman Ellen and Bob Kant Dr. and Mrs. Jamie Kapner °Andrew B. and Wan Kyun Rha Kim °Margot and Dennis Knight James and Ina Kort Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Lavinia Thomas S. and Sheri A. Levin Cheryl Londen Tess Loo Lucy and Robert Lorenzen Steve and Janice Marcus °Paul and Merle Marcus Gail Rineberg Lois and John Rogers James and Linda Saunders Michael Schwimmer and Jacqueline Schenkein Mr. George F. Sheer and Linda Porter Paula and Jack Strickstein Mollie C. Trivers and Shelley Cohn Charles and Vonnie Wanner Dr. and Mrs. William Weese Daniel and Joy Wilhelm Paul and Katherine Wolfehagen PATRON’S CIRCLE $1,500+ Anonymous (3) Judy Ackerman and Richard Epstein Dr. Dan and Miriam Ailloni-Charas Bert and Jill Alanko Makenna and Mike Albrecht … Caralee Allsworth Megan and John Anderson Ellen Andres-Schneider and Ralph Andres … Milena and °Tony Astorga Linda and Jim Ballinger Uta Monique Behrens David and Susan Berman Neil Berman Karen and Gary Bethune James T. Bialac °Donna and Gus Boss Nancy and Joe Braucher … Linda H. Breuer Eric and Dorothy Bron Sumner Brown and Lyn Bailey Ray and Mona Buse Kay Butler … Jerry and Stefanie Cargill Sandy Chamberlain and David Kest Mr. Tom Chauncey, II Jennifer and Bill Clark Marilee and David Clarke The Clements Family Elaine and Sidney Cohen Richard and Deborah Cookson °Joyce Cooper Sam Coppersmith Mr. Richard Corton and Ms. Faith Sussman °Joan D. Cremin Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Damico Leslie Dashew and Jack Salisbury

Mr. and Mrs. Michael DeBell Luino and Margaret Dell’Osso JoAnne Doll Bill Dougherty and Beth McRae Dougherty Sydney and Michael Dye Gary Egan Judith and John Ellerman … Thomas and Maureen Eye Richard and Suzanne Felker Katalin Festy-Sandor Noel and Anne Fidel George and Ann Fisher Amy Flood and Larry West Susie and Don Fowls Dr. and Mrs. Jack A. Friedland Dr. Paul and Amy Gause Elton Gilbert Jeffrey and Angela Glosser *Judy and Bill Goldberg … °Richard and Susan Goldsmith Laurie and Charles Goldstein Karen and James Grande Heather and *Michael D. Greenbaum Larry and Jackie Gutsch Ashley Harder *Lila Harnett Karen and Lawrence Harris Josh and Cat Hartmann Dr. and Mrs. Douglas Hauser William Hawking … Michael Hawksworth and Anna Sokolova Maxine Henig and Jodi Freeman Ms. Mary Beth Herbert and Mr. Cecil Penn Linda Herman Paul and Yinglu Hermanson Lori and Howard Hirsch … Amber Hodge and Johnny Perez Lynda and Arthur Horlick … Mimi Horwitz … Nancy Husband Jeff and Sarah Joerres Gigi Jordan and Bob Patterson °Dr. Eric Jungermann Ruth R. Kaspar Elise Kausen Kathy and Fred Kenny Eleanor and Bruce Knappenberger Carolyn Refsnes Kniazzeh Susan Kovarik and Brian Schneider Judy Krolikowski °Carolyn R. Laflin Bruce and Jane Lawson Catherine L. Lemon Benjamin and Cindy Lenhardt Jerry and Shirley Lewis David and Leslie Lewis Dr. Dorothy Lincoln-Smith and Dr. Harvey Smith … Don and Debra Luke Mr. and Mrs. Daniel G. Maloney Wally and Martha Martin Henkel Susan and Philip W. Matos Sandra Matteucci Katherine May Tammy McLeod and John Hamilton °Jim and Jean Meenaghan Belle and Bob Merwitzer Arthur Messinger and Eugenie Harris Sherrell Miller Eliot and Doris Minsker Cindy and Mike Moore Gene and Connie Nicholas Richard B. and °Patricia E. Nolan Michael and Kathleen Norton Kenneth O’Connor and Deedee Rowe Kay and Walter Oliver Mr. and Mrs. Donald R. Ottosen °Rose and Harry Papp … Camerone Parker McCulloch and Robert McCulloch, M.D. David and Mary Patino … Stan Payton Jody Pelusi James and Karrie Pierson Elodee Portigal Mrs. Maritom K. Pyron Ida Rhea Nancy Riegel Karen Riley Carol and Thomas Carlton Rogers, II … Stephena C. Romanoff … Merle and Steve Rosskam … Betsy Retchin … Earl and Sandra Rusnak Vincent and Janie Russo Mary and Tom Sadvary Jana and Charles Sample Stella and Mark Saperstein … Laura and Gary Saterbak Carol and Randy Schilling … Colby Schmeckpeper Fred and Arleen Schwartz Sheila Schwartz Arlene and Morton Scult Mary and Stanley Seidler Donald and Dorothea Smith Lynne Smith Woody and Nancy Spivey Judy and Bud Stanley Rosemary and George Stelmach … Richard and Phyllis Stern °Betsy and Bruce Stodola Fred and Gail Tieken … Dr. and Mrs. Richard Towbin Pat and Phil Turberg … Jacquie and Merrill Tutton Mrs. Betty Van Denburgh Irene Vasquez Kenneth and Deirdre Vecchione Elaine Warner Gerald Weiner Sherry Wilcop Mildred B. Williams Ronald G. Wilson and Bonnie Naegle-Wilson Richard and Gretchen Wilson Georgia Ray and R. Stephen Wolfe Delwyn and Diana Worthington Pat and Barry Yellen

MAY THE JOYS OF TODAY BE THOSE OF TOMORROW.

We’d love the opportunity to tell you more about our planned giving program and how gifts like a charitable IRA rollover can help the Museum remain a place where all people are welcome to discover, grow, and dream. If you already have included Phoenix Art Museum in your estate plans, please let us know so we may thank you for your generosity and recognize you as a member of our 21st Century Society.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT PLANNEDGIVING@PHXART.ORG.

image credit: Maynard Dixon, Home of the Desert Rat, 1944-1945. Oil on canvas. Bequest of Leon H. Woolsey.

image credit: Phoenix Headshots. Photographer: Yucel Yalim.

Phoenix Art Museum is one of the arts-andculture centerpieces of Arizona.”

ROBERT FAVER

PRESIDENT, ARIZONA REGION, UMB BANK Supporting Phoenix Art Museum Since 2005

“The arts, along with business and education, are essential to creating a vibrant community. UMB Bank has always been a strong advocate of the arts, support that starts at the top of the house with the Kemper family, who believe the arts are integral to a strong and expanding community. Supporting the arts is also a personal passion for me. I remember visiting Phoenix Art Museum on a field trip in grade school, which speaks to how long the Museum has been a pillar of our art community. That experience is one reason why I want to continue to be involved in the institution’s history and to ensure that, through UMB Bank’s support, we are able to help even more kids visit the Museum and learn about the arts through phenomenal artworks, exhibitions, and arts education programs. When you think of the greatest cities in the world, you realize they all have vibrant arts-and-cultural centers, and we need that in the Valley not only to attract residents but to attract travelers, businesses, and overall growth. UMB Bank wants to continue watching this Valley thrive, which is why we will continue to support organizations like Phoenix Art Museum, a place that should be preserved for the next generation.”