Mountaineers

Most of Rexroth's compositions from the late 1930s through the 1960s register a shift from the magnet (transformed into a black moving line or decomposed) to all-over calligraphy to gossamer webs (calligraphic patterns interwoven with different colors) through which appears a diffuse radius of light or veiled iridescent area. Rexroth continues to use biomorphic or geometric forms as well as symbolic or representational figures. Black or white rectilinear designs (derived from Synthetic Cubism) soften. Expressionist use of linear patterns shows influences of Japanese sumi-e painting, Mark Tobey's "white writing", and the planar geometric explorations of Bradley Walker Tomlin. San Francisco Museum of Art label on the back, title given is "Abstraction"; date "in" is "6/29/42". There's a fragment of another label present. In white chalk on the back is written: "1935 / Mountaineers. Some tiny chips, and/or flecks, in the paint, perhaps the result of a bit of abrasion, with 14 or 15 tiny droplets of what appears to be paint in a contrasting color, a splash mark perhaps, otherwise in fine condition. Wax, silica, and pure decorator colors on wooden board, 21 ½" wide x 16 ½" high, ca. 1936, matted and framed. Some tiny chips, and/or flecks, in the paint, perhaps the result of a bit of abrasion, with 14 or 15 tiny droplets of what appears to be paint in a contrasting color, a splash mark perhaps, otherwise in fine condition.