b. 1932
Dorothea Rockburne is a painter and a draughtswoman, as well as a mixed media and installation artist. Born in Montréal, Quebec, Rockburne began classic training in Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture in 1942 at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France, where she studied under the Abstract artist Paul Emile Borduas. After winning a scholarship, Rockburne studied at the Montréal Museum School, where she began to distance her artistic style from the classical manner she had been studying since a young age.
Moses Martin Reinblatt, one of Rockburne’s teachers at the museum school, convinced her to apply to Black Mountain College in Asheville, NC, which was known for being the radical art school of the time. Rockburne attended Black Mountain College from 1950–1955, studying a variety of subjects including Painting, Music, Dance, Math, Theater, Linguistics, Philosophy, Literature, Writing, Poetry, and Photography.
Rockburne moved to New York City after she graduated. In 1963, she began assisting her friend and former schoolmate Robert Rauschenberg. For the next five years Rockburne worked in Rauschenberg’s studio, and a year later, she was working in her own studio. She incorporated mathematics into her art, inspired by dance and how the body moves through space. Rockburne produced her Set Theory installations, which were first shown in 1970 at the Bykert Gallery, NY, with this new inspiration.
In 1972, Rockburne received a Guggenheim Fellowship and traveled to Italy, where she continued her studies in Italian Art, and began to merge her classical training into her work. In the early 1990s, Rockburne began to study Astronomy and frescoes, combining these interests to create a major fresco secco for SONY headquarters in New York City entitled Northern Sky, Southern Sky (1992–1993).
Rockburne has received many awards and honors during her career including the National Endowment for the Arts grant (1974), an artist residency at the American Academy in Rome (1991), a membership in the Department of Art at the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2001), a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant (2002), and a Lee Krasner Award (2003, 2007). Rockburne currently lives and works in New York.
Moses Martin Reinblatt, one of Rockburne’s teachers at the museum school, convinced her to apply to Black Mountain College in Asheville, NC, which was known for being the radical art school of the time. Rockburne attended Black Mountain College from 1950–1955, studying a variety of subjects including Painting, Music, Dance, Math, Theater, Linguistics, Philosophy, Literature, Writing, Poetry, and Photography.
Rockburne moved to New York City after she graduated. In 1963, she began assisting her friend and former schoolmate Robert Rauschenberg. For the next five years Rockburne worked in Rauschenberg’s studio, and a year later, she was working in her own studio. She incorporated mathematics into her art, inspired by dance and how the body moves through space. Rockburne produced her Set Theory installations, which were first shown in 1970 at the Bykert Gallery, NY, with this new inspiration.
In 1972, Rockburne received a Guggenheim Fellowship and traveled to Italy, where she continued her studies in Italian Art, and began to merge her classical training into her work. In the early 1990s, Rockburne began to study Astronomy and frescoes, combining these interests to create a major fresco secco for SONY headquarters in New York City entitled Northern Sky, Southern Sky (1992–1993).
Rockburne has received many awards and honors during her career including the National Endowment for the Arts grant (1974), an artist residency at the American Academy in Rome (1991), a membership in the Department of Art at the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2001), a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant (2002), and a Lee Krasner Award (2003, 2007). Rockburne currently lives and works in New York.
