Magician's Scarecrow II

Dorr Bothwell

A fractal composition that reads like a stained glass, Dorr Bothwell's "Magician's Scarecrow" is an early Abstract take on the fantastic. Out of the controlled chaos of symbols and layered color fields emerges a form in the center-left, perhaps a bearded man; above him, a moon-like orb holding the faint outline of a bird superimposed over a wash of pink is caught in a black web.

By 1947 Dorr Bothwell, who had been formally pursuing art for over 25 years, had shed the realism and classical subject matter she had learned in order to fully delve into the abstract. By this time she referred to herself as a Symbolist and applied the theory to her abstracted compositions; as well, in many of these mid-century works there is abundant use of patterns that echo her time on the islands of American Samoa, where she learned about the textile production of the islanders.