Dorr Bothwell, THE SYMBOLIST

THE SYMBOLIST
Icon, Mandala & Metaphor

Dorr Bothwell 1902 -2000

Dorr Bothwell, a self-identified symbolist, used visual imagery to convey abstract concepts.

In her artwork, Bothwell incorporates spiritual symbols from nonwestern cultures in which she had participated, their ancient origins juxtaposed against her contemporary personal life, with passionate dedication, intelligent humor, and insightful social comment.

In Shrines & Altars # 1 (1983), Bothwell pairs the image of a fashion model with that of a sacred cow. Gloria Mundi - “Glory of the World”- references the Latin expression "sic transit gloria mundi," in English, "thus passes worldly glory." In Bothwell's Gloria Mundi Mandala (1971) she combines images of worldly success, a Rolls Royce with a mandala hood ornament adorned with a crown, grasping hands, and a go-go boot, quintessential symbol of the era's "groovy babe." In Hare Krishna Icon (1983) the face of a cultural icon, Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, replaces the face of Krishna.

Bothwell viewed art as a direct mode to express her spiritual nature, allowing inspiration to flow through her unencumbered. In a piece on Dorr Bothwell for the March/April 1999 Mendocino A&E Magazine, Valliere T. Richard writes: Ms Bothwell’s Quaker background taught her at an early age to commune “within,” to “wait to be told…in their writings (great artists), you’ll find they always knew that something was painting through them. They were told what to do.”

Bothwell received many honors in her lifetime, including an Abraham Rosenberg Fellowship for work abroad, the San Francisco Women in the Arts Award, and two Pollock-Krasner grants. Her artwork is held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, the de Young Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Long Beach Museum of Art, University California Irvine, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland.

Bothwell’s papers are held in the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian.

Learn more about Dorr Bothwell:
https://www.williamzacha.com/artists/dorr-bothwell/about-dorr-bothwell/

This online exhibition was designed and produced in cooperation with the Dorr Bothwell Trust.