Untitled by Otto Donald Rogers

Provenance:
Private Collection, Calgary

Literature:
George Moppett and Norman Zepp, Otto Rogers: A Survey 1973-1982, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, 1982, pages 4-8
Ken Carpenter, “Otto Rogers and a Life in Art”, Canadian Art, April 28, 2014

A native of Saskatchewan, Otto Rogers was heavily influenced by the prairie landscape and the horizon as references in his abstract works. The low horizontal line separating two different tones of steel grey creates a composition that loosely recalls a view of a prairie sky and field. While many of Rogers’ abstract paintings have a soft, atmospheric effect, this 1984 canvas presents hard-edge diagonal lines and geometric forms. This effect may be due to the artist’s active involvement in Cubist-Constructivist inspired sculpture at the time. Although known primarily as a painter, Rogers has taken a strong interest in sculpture since his student years. He was one of the first artists in Canada to make welded-steel sculpture, and served as a guest leader on the subject, along with Caro, Bentham, and Terry Fenton, at the 1977 Emma Lake Artists’ Workshop. He exhibited his sculpture sporadically in the 1960s and 70s, and was invited by Caro to participate in workshops in New York in 1984 and subsequently Barcelona in 1987.