Dorothy Dehner (1901–1994) was an influential American multidisciplinary artist who worked with drawing, painting, printmaking, and most notably sculpture.
Dehner's legacy has been overshadowed for many years by her ex-husband, the acclaimed sculptor David Smith. Stifled by their tumultuous relationship, Dehner only fully committed to her practice after divorcing him in 1951. This break was highly fruitful for her artistic output and reputation in the following years.
After the divorce, Dehner refined her artistic voice and expanded her practice to include printmaking and sculpture. Her new-found independence and renewed ambition led to a pivotal relationship with the esteemed printmaking studio Atelier 17. Working there she formed a close and enduring friendship with Louise Nevelson.
Today Dehner has been re-embraced and repositioned in the American art canon. Her work is best understood and appreciated in the context of not only David Smith but other artists dedicated to sculpture including Lee Bontecou, Louise Bourgeois, and of course Louise Nevelson.
This energetic and hypnotic work on paper is somewhat of a departure from Denher's structured and intricate approach. Bold, frenetic strokes of ink loop chaotically across the surface, revelling in a sense of fluid dynamism that is in contrast with the artist's architectural arrangements.
While it is notably looser and bolder then some of the drawings we expect from this era, we find the artist creating forms that are a harbinger of the muscular sculpture she would create in the following decade. Click here to see an example of a bronze sculpture from 1966 sold at Wright auction house.
Here Dehner is leaning into the gestural and subconscious actions that defined abstract expressionism. It is an excellent example of her work from the 1950's.
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“Woman in a Tantrum”
USA, 1954
Ink and watercolor on paper
Signed and dated lower left
26"H 20"W (work)
30.25"H 24.25"W (framed)
Framed with museum glass
Very good condition
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